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Original Article |
ß Suppresses TCR
Gene Rearrangement but Permits Development of 
Lineage T Cells
Correspondence to: B.J. Fowlkes, Bldg. 4, Rm. 111, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0420. Tel:301-496-5530 Fax:301-402-4891 E-mail:bfowlkes{at}nih.gov.
The T cell receptor (TCR)
and the pre-TCR promote survival and maturation of early thymocyte precursors. Whether these receptors also influence 
versus
ß lineage determination is less clear. We show here that TCR
gene rearrangements are suppressed in TCR
ß transgenic mice when the TCR
ß is expressed early in T cell development. This situation offers the opportunity to examine the outcome of 
versus
ß T lineage commitment when only the TCR
ß is expressed. We find that precursor thymocytes expressing TCR
ß not only mature in the
ß pathway as expected, but also as CD4-CD8- T cells with properties of 
lineage cells. In TCR
ß transgenic mice, in which the transgenic receptor is expressed relatively late, TCR
rearrangements occur normally such that TCR
ß+CD4-CD8- cells co-express TCR
. The results support the notion that TCR
ß can substitute for TCR
to permit a 
lineage choice and maturation in the 
lineage. The findings could fit a model in which lineage commitment is determined before or independent of TCR gene rearrangement. However, these results could be compatible with a model in which distinct signals bias lineage choice and these signaling differences are not absolute or intrinsic to the specific TCR structure.
Key Words: lineage commitment, TCR transgenic mice, thymus, differentiation, positive selection
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