Structure of the T-cell receptor in a Ti alpha beta, Ti gamma delta double positive T-cell line.

The multichain T-cell receptor is composed of at least six different polypeptide chains. The clonotypic Ti heterodimer (Ti alpha beta or Ti gamma delta) is non-covalently associated with the CD3 chains (CD3 gamma delta epsilon zeta). The exact number of subunits constituting the T-cell receptor is still not known. It has been suggested that each T-cell receptor contains two Ti dimers. To gain insight into the structure of the T-cell receptor we constructed a Ti alpha beta, Ti gamma delta double positive T-cell line which contained four functional Ti chains (Ti alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). The data demonstrated an absence of Ti dimers containing mixtures of chains other than the typical Ti alpha beta and Ti gamma delta combinations. Furthermore, by co-modulation experiments we demonstrated that the Ti alpha beta and the Ti gamma delta dimers were not expressed in the same T-cell receptor. Our data indicate that the T-cell receptor does not contain two Ti dimers.