Isolation of cDNA clones encoding T cell-specific membrane-associated proteins.

Of 10 distinct cloned DNA copies of mRNAs expressed in T lymphocytes but not in B lymphocytes and associated with membrane-bound polysomes, one hybridizes to a region of the genome that has rearranged in a T-cell lymphoma and several T-cell hybridomas. These characteristics suggest that it encodes one chain of the elusive antigen receptor on the surface of T lymphocytes.