recognition. Thus, the C regions of the TCRα and TCRβ loci are much simpler than those of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus. There is only one Cα gene, and although there are two Cβ genes, they are very closely homologous and there is no known functional distinction between their products. The T-cell receptor C-region genes encode only transmembrane polypeptides.
Another difference between the rearrangement of immunoglobulin genes and T-cell receptor genes is in the nature of the RSSs surrounding the D gene segments. For the immunoglobulin heavy chain, the D segment is surrounded by two RSSs, both with a 12-bp spacing (see Fig. 5.6), whereas the D segments in the TCRβ and TCRγ loci have a 5ʹ 12-bp RSS and a 3ʹ 23-bp RSS (see Fig. 5.14). The arrangement in the immunoglobulin locus naturally enforces the inclusion of D segments in the heavy-chain V region, since direct V to J joining would violate the 12/23 rule. However, in the T-cell receptor loci, direct V to J joining would not violate this rule, since the 23-bp RSS of the Vβ or Vγ segment is compatible with the 12-bp RSS of the J gene segment, and yet normally, little to no such direct joining is observed. Instead, regulation of gene rearrangements appears to be controlled by mechanisms beyond the 12/23 rule, and these mechanisms are still being investigated.
5-10 T-cell receptors concentrate diversity in the third hypervariable region.
The three-dimensional structure of the antigen-recognition site of a T-cell receptor looks much like that of the antigen-recognition site of an antibody molecule (see Sections 4-10 and 4-7, respectively). In an antibody, the center of the antigen-binding site is formed by the CDR3 loops of the heavy and light chains. The structurally equivalent third hypervariable loops of the T-cell receptor α and β chains, to which the D and J gene segments contribute, also form the center of the antigen-binding site of a T-cell receptor; the periphery of the site consists of the CDR1 and CDR2 loops, which are encoded within the germline V gene segments for the αand β chains. The extent and pattern of variability in T-cell receptors and immunoglobulins reflect the distinct nature of their ligands. Whereas the antigen-binding sites of immunoglobulins must conform to the surfaces of an almost infinite variety of different antigens, and thus come in a wide variety of shapes and chemical properties, the ligand for the major class of human T-cell receptors (α:β) is always a peptide bound to an MHC molecule. As a group, the antigen-recognition sites of T-cell receptors
Fig. 5.16 The most variable parts of the T-cell receptor interact with the peptide of a peptide:MHC complex.
The CDR loops of a T-cell receptor are shown as colored tubes, which in this figure are superimposed on the peptide:MHC complex (MHC, gray; peptide, yellow-green with O atoms in red and N atoms in blue). The CDR loops of the α chain are in green, while those of the β chain are in magenta. The CDR3 loops lie in the center of the interface between the T-cell receptor and the peptide:MHC complex, and make direct contact with the antigenic peptide.
would therefore be predicted to have a less variable shape, with most of the variability focused on the bound antigenic peptide occupying the center of the surface in contact with the receptor. Indeed, the less variable CDR1 and CDR2 loops of a T-cell receptor mainly contact the relatively less variable MHC component of the ligand, whereas the highly variable CDR3 regions mainly contact the unique peptide component (Fig. 5.16).