T-cell Antigen Receptor Genes and T-cell Recognition

The four distinct T-cell antigen receptor polypeptides (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) form two different heterodimers (alpha:beta and gamma:delta) that are very similar to immunoglobulins in primary sequence, gene organization and modes of rearrangement. Whereas antibodies have both soluble and membrane forms that can bind to antigens alone, T-cell receptors exist only on cell surfaces and recognize antigen fragments only when they are embedded in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Patterns of diversity in T-cell receptor genes together with structural features of immunoglobulin and MHC molecules suggest a model for how this recognition might occur. This view of T-cell recognition has implications for how the receptors might be selected in the thymus and how they (and immunoglobulins) may have arisen during evolution.