Minden M D, Mak T W
Blood. 1986 Aug;68(2):327-36.
In this review the genomic structure and the RNA transcripts of the alpha and beta chain of the T cell antigen receptor have been discussed. Studies of the structure of TcR beta in hematologic malignancies have revealed rearrangement in almost all of the T cell malignancies and a small proportion of non-T cell malignancies. In addition, clonal involvement of T cells in diseases such as Hodgkin's disease, angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy, and chronic T cell lymphocytosis have been observed. The study of the structure of the TcR beta gene is thus a useful tool for identifying clonal expansions of cells and in conjunction with studies of the immunoglobulin gene structure, and cell surface markers a useful tool for identifying cell lineage. At the present time the evaluation of the structure of the alpha chain genes has not been as fruitful. However, chromosome translocations involving the TcR alpha chain genes have been recognized and, in one case, this rearrangement has been in association with a known oncogene. With the isolation of more probes to the alpha chain region it should be possible to test its utility in identifying clonal populations and cell lineage. The recent isolation of the gamma gene of the T cell will also permit such studies. Preliminary results of studies carried out with a probe to the gamma chain gene of the T cell have paralleled results obtained with the TcR beta probe (unpublished observation).
在这篇综述中，已讨论了T细胞抗原受体α链和β链的基因组结构及RNA转录本。对血液系统恶性肿瘤中TcRβ结构的研究显示，几乎所有T细胞恶性肿瘤及一小部分非T细胞恶性肿瘤中均存在重排。此外，已观察到T细胞克隆性参与霍奇金病、血管免疫母细胞性淋巴结病及慢性T细胞淋巴细胞增多症等疾病。因此，研究TcRβ基因结构是鉴定细胞克隆性扩增的有用工具，并且与免疫球蛋白基因结构及细胞表面标志物研究相结合，是鉴定细胞谱系的有用工具。目前，对α链基因结构的评估尚未取得丰硕成果。然而，已识别出涉及TcRα链基因的染色体易位，并且在一个病例中，这种重排与一个已知癌基因相关。随着更多针对α链区域的探针的分离，应该能够测试其在鉴定克隆群体和细胞谱系方面的效用。最近分离出T细胞的γ基因也将允许进行此类研究。用针对T细胞γ链基因的探针进行研究的初步结果与用TcRβ探针获得的结果相似（未发表的观察结果）。
