期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1999
卷号：96
期号：4
页码：1547-1552
DOI：10.1073/pnas.96.4.1547
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Whether there is one or multiple {beta}T cell antigen receptor (TCR) recognition modules in a given TCR/CD3 complex is a long-standing controversy in immunology. We show that T cells from transgenic mice that coexpress comparable amounts of two distinct TCR{beta} chains incorporate at least two {beta}TCRs in a single TCR/CD3 complex. Evidence for bispecific {beta}TCRs was obtained by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting and confirmed on the surface of living cells both by fluorescence resonance energy transfer and comodulation assays by using antibodies specific for TCR{beta}-variable regions. Such ({beta})2TCR/CD3 or higher-order complexes were evident in T cells studied either ex vivo or after expansion in vitro. T cell activation is thought by many, but not all, to require TCR cross-linking by its antigen/major histocompatibility complex ligand. The implications of a multivalent ({beta})2TCR/CD3 complex stoichiometry for the ordered docking of specific antigen/major histocompatibility complex, CD4, or CD8 coreceptors and additional TCRs are discussed.
