Exon/intron organization of the genes coding for the delta chains of the human and murine T-cell receptor/T3 complex.

Genomic DNA clones containing the gene coding for the 20-kDa T3 glycoprotein of the T-cell receptor/T3 complex (T3-delta chain) of human and mouse were isolated and characterized. The human T3-delta gene is approximately equal to 4 kilobases (kb) long and contains five exons: a 151-base-pair (bp) exon containing the 5' untranslated and the coding sequences of the signal peptide, one exon of 219 bp, which contains most of the extracellular segment of the T3-delta chain, one 130-bp-long exon coding mainly for the transmembrane portion of the molecule, and two exons of 44 bp and 156 bp encoding the cytoplasmic domain and 3' untranslated region of the T3-delta chain, respectively. The murine T3-delta gene, which has a similar organization, contains 5 kb, because the first intron is approximately equal to 1 kb larger than in the human gene. Two major mRNA initiation sites within a small area approximately equal to 100 nucleotides 5' of the AUG codon were determined by S1 nuclease analysis and primer-extension studies. The remarkably high level of conservation of nucleotide sequences in this region suggests that this segment may be important for the regulation of T-cell-specific transcription of the T3-delta gene. The T3-delta gene does not contain the "TATA box" found in many eukaryotic promoters.