Chemical and immunological characterization of HL-A linked B-lymphocyte alloantigens.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Terhorst.
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Amino-acid and carbohydrate compositions in addition to limited NH2-terminal sequence data of four preparations of HLA antigens, including products of both of the major histocompatibility loci (HLA-A and HLA-B), show that the antigens have great homology in the primary structure. A striking observation is that HLA antigens also have a considerable structure homology with mouse H-2 antigens. HLA antigens appear to have one carbohydrate side chain which has the same composition in all four cases. The possible relation of the structure of the heavy chain of HLA antigens to immunoglobulins is discussed, based on the limited data which are available so far.
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Three preparations of purified papain-solublized HL-A antigens have been radiolabeled by reductive methylation using formaldehyde and potassium boro[3H]hydride, and their reaction with specific HL-A antisera has been investigated. Greater than 99 percent of the radioactivity in the [3H]HL-A2 preparation could be complexed with several HL-A2 antisera, but not with specificity controls. The other two preparations, which contained mixtures of HL-A antigenic specificities (HL-A7,12 an HL-A3,W25;12,27), showed 63 per cent and 70 per cent complex formation with mixtures of the appropriate HL-A antisera. The N-terminal amino acid of both subunits has been determined for the three HL-A antigen preparations. In all cases the only detectable N-terminal amino acids were isoleucine for the small subunits, beta-2-microblogulin, and glycine for the larger subunit.
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The complete amino acid sequence of one of the polypeptide chains of the human T3/T-cell receptor complex, the T3 glycoprotein (T3-delta-chain) of relative molecular mass 20,000, was deduced from cDNA clones derived from HPB-ALL cells and a human T-cell clone. Inspection of the 171-amino acid sequence reveals a signal peptide, a 79-amino acid extracellular domain, one transmembrane region and a 44-amino acid intracellular domain which show no sequence homology with members of the T-cell receptor/immunoglobulin/MHC multi-gene family. The T3 delta-chain is coded for by a single-copy gene the expression of which is restricted to T lymphocytes in humans and mice.
The T3/T-cell receptor complex on the surface of human thymus-derived lymphocytes consists of four glycoproteins: the alpha-chain of relative molecular mass (Mr) 40,000-50,000 (40-50K), the beta-chain (37-45K); the gamma-chain (25K) and the delta-chain (20K). The T3 alpha- and beta-chains have been identified as clonotypic T-cell receptors, but functionally the T3/T-cell receptor chains seem to form a single complex: monoclonal antibodies directed at the 20K T3 components are mitogenic for normal human T lymphocytes and, at higher concentrations, anti-clonotypic and anti-20K reagents block T-cell function. Recently, Zanders et al. showed that incubation of human T-helper clones with high concentrations of antigen abolishes antigen-specific proliferation and induces disappearance of T3 from the cell surface. Thus, the T3/T-cell receptor complex consists of two variable subunits, the T3 alpha- and beta-chains, which interact with antigen and the monomorphic 20K/25K T3 chains. Recently, the existence of a fifth polypeptide chain, the unglycosylated T3 epsilon-chain, has been postulated. Here we confirm that a 20K epsilon-chain does exist. The T3 epsilon-chain differs from the T3 delta-chain in primary structure as judged by N-terminal amino acid sequencing, peptide mapping and immunoblotting with anti-T3-delta and anti-T3-epsilon antibodies. Treatment with endoglycosidase F revealed two nonglycosylated T3 delta polypeptide backbone chains (16K and 14K) with identical amino termini. Together with previous pulse-chase experiments this observation suggests that the 14K T3 polypeptide is derived from the 16K T3 precursor by proteolytic processing near the C-terminus of the molecule.
T lymphocytes can produce mRNAs from the first or second constant region of the T-cell antigen receptor beta-chain. A 1.3-kilobase (kb) transcript encoding the mature protein contains V, J and one of the two C region sequences, but does not always contain D sequences. A 1.0-kb mRNA, found mainly in immature T cells, does not contain V sequences and can result from transcription that initiates upstream from an unrearranged J element.
The antigen receptor on the surface of human T lymphocytes, which consists of a heterodimer of relative molecular mass (Mr) 90,000 (90K) (alpha- and beta-chains), is associated with the T3 antigen (gamma = 25K, delta = 20K and epsilon = 20K). A working model for the mode of action of the T3/T-cell receptor complex is that the clonotypic alpha- and beta-chains are involved in the recognition and binding of antigen in the context of polymorphic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene products on the surface of target cells. Antigen binding by the clonotypic receptor probably results in conformational changes in this structure which are recognized by and subsequently trigger the associated T3 complex to transmit signals into the cell, resulting in a proliferative response. The similarity in structure between murine and human clonotypic antigen receptors suggests that such a mechanism of recognition and activation also exists in mouse T lymphocytes, but so far there has been no evidence for the existence of a murine T3 complex. Here we demonstrate the existence of a T3 delta-chain mRNA in murine T lymphocytes. Our sequence data strongly suggest that this mouse mRNA codes for a complete T3 delta polypeptide chain and reveal some interesting properties of the protein.
The antigen receptor on T lymphocytes has recently been characterized as a heterodimeric, transmembrane glycoprotein consisting of disulphide-linked alpha (acidic) and beta (basic) subunits of relative molecular mass (Mr) 40,000-45,000 each. The genes encoding these proteins have been cloned and shown to resemble immunoglobulin genes in both overall structure and the requirement for DNA rearrangement before expression. In humans, three additional proteins, termed the T3 complex, are found associated with the clonotypic receptor, and a role for T3 in receptor expression has been proposed. Despite these recent advances in characterizing the antigen receptor complex, there is as yet little understanding of T-cell maturation, particularly the stage of T-cell ontogeny at which the genes encoding the antigen receptor and its associated structures are expressed and assembled. In the adult, stem cells destined to differentiate into T cells arise in the bone marrow and migrate to the thymus, where T-cell precursors proliferate, develop a preference for recognizing antigens in the context of self MHC molecules and are released to the periphery. Recently, cells that have the properties of immature murine thymocytes have been isolated and described. We have now analysed these cells with a series of molecular probes and we describe three distinct patterns of T-cell antigen receptor gene rearrangements in developing thymocytes.
We have introduced a full-length complementary DNA of the T-cell antigen receptor beta-chain into a mutant human T-cell line that lacked a complete beta-chain messenger RNA, had a diminished level of alpha-chain transcript and did not express surface T3- or antigen receptor. Expression of the transfected beta-chain led to a normal level of alpha-chain transcript and a structurally and functionally active T3 T-cell antigen receptor complex on the cell surface.
Antigen recognition by human T lymphocytes and initiation of T-cell activation are mediated by a group of integral membrane proteins, the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) and the T3 complex. The polypeptides which comprise T3 (a gamma-chain of relative molecular mass (Mr) 25,000 (25K), and delta and epsilon chains of 20K each) are physically associated with the TCR chains. Surface expression of the complex requires the presence of all the component T3 and TCR proteins. In contrast to the human system, murine T3 has not been identified using antibodies. Here we describe a murine T3-like protein complex. It appears to be more complicated than human T3, containing three monomeric glycoproteins (21-28K), two of which have N-linked carbohydrate side chains and a novel family of TCR-associated homo- and heterodimers. The 28K protein is identified as the murine T3 delta-chain. The 21K protein is phosphorylated on cell activation with concanavalin A (Con A).