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Genomic organization of the sheep TRG1@ locus and comparative analyses of Bovidae and human variable genes
γδ T cells commonly account for 0.5%–5% of human (γδ low species) circulating T cells, whereas they are very common in chickens, and they may account for > 70% of peripheral cells in ruminants (γδ high species). We have previously reported the ovine TRG2@ locus structure, the first complete physical map of any ruminant animal TCR locus. Here we determined the TRG1@ locus organization in sheep, reported all variable (V) gamma gene
segments in their germline configuration and included human and cattle sequences in a three species comparison. The TRG1@ locus spans about 140 kb and consists of three clusters named TRG5, TRG3, and TRG1 according to the constant (C) genes. The predicted tertiary structure of cattle and sheep V proteins showed a remarkably high degree of conservation between the experimentally determined human Vγ9 and the proteins belonging to TRG5 Vγ subgroup. However systematic comparison of primary and tertiary structure highligthed that in Bovidae the overall conformation of the γδ TCR, is more similar to the Fab fragment of an antibody than any TCR heterodimer. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the evolution of cattle and sheep V genes is related to the rearrangement process of V segments with the relevant C, and consequentely to the appartenence of the V genes to a given cluster. The TRG cluster evolution in cattle and sheep pointed out the existence of a TRG5 ancient cluster and the occurrence of duplications of its minimal structural scheme of one V, two joining (J), and one C
Evolution of TRG clusters in cattle and sheep genomes as drawn from the structural analysis of the ovine TRG2@ locus
Comparative analyses of sheep and human TRG joining regions: evolution of J genes in Bovidae is driven by sequence conservation in their promoters for germline transcription
The availability of genomic clones representative of the T cell receptor gamma (TRG1@ and TRG2@) ovine loci enabled us to compare the germline genomic organization and nucleotide diversity of joining (J) segments and reconstruct their evolutionary history by phylogenetic analysis of cattle, sheep and human expressed sequences. Expression profiling (RT-PCR data) in fetus and adult indicated that only the ovine J genes in which two or more of the key sequence features, such as recombination signal sequences (RSS), 3′
splice sites, and core sequences, are missing or severely altered fail to be transcribed. Comparative genomic examination of the two human with the six sheep germline transcription promoters located at 5′ of the relevant constant (C)-distal J segments showed a strong conservation of the redundant STAT consensus motifs, indicating that TRG1@ and TRG2@ loci are under the influence of IL-7 and STAT signalling. These findings support the phylogenetic analysis of human and Bovidae (cattle and sheep) that revealed a different grouping pattern of C-distal compared to C-proximal J segments. Likewise, the phylogenetic behaviour of either C-distal and C-proximal J segments is in accordance with the Bovidae TRG clusters evolution. Comparison of sheep and human structures of recombination signal
sequences (RSS) has highlighted a greater conservation in sheep 12 RSS rather than 23 RSS thus suggesting that the initial recruitment of recombination activating genes (RAG) products requires at least one relatively high-affinity RSS per recombination event
Structural and evolutionary analysis of the T cell receptor gamma/delta genes in cattle and sheep genomes
Evolution of TRG clusters in cattle and sheep genomes as drawn from the structural analysis of the ovine TRG2@ locus
The availability of genomic clones representative of the T-cell receptor constant gamma (TRGC) ovine genes enabled us to demonstrate, by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) on cattle and sheep metaphases, the presence of two T-cell receptor gamma (TRG1@ and TRG2@) paralogous loci separated by at least five chromosomal bands on chromosome 4. Only TRG1@ is included within a region of homology with human TRG locus on chromosome 7, thus TRG2@ locus appears to be peculiar to ruminants. The structure of the entire TRG2@ locus, the first complete physical map of any ruminant animal TCR gamma locus, is reported here. The TRG2@ spans about 90 kb and consists of three clusters that we named TRG6, TRG2, and TRG4, according to the constant genes name. Phylogenetic analysis has highlighted the correlation between the grouping pattern of cattle and sheep variable gamma (TRGV) genes and the relevant TRGC; variable (V), joining (J), and constant (C) rearrange to be found together in mature transcripts. The simultaneous results on the TRG2@ locus molecular organization in sheep and on the phylogenetic analysis of cattle and sheep V expressed sequences indicate that at least six TRG clusters distributed in the two loci are present in these ruminant animals. The inferred evolution of TRG clusters in cattle and sheep genomes is consistent with a scenario where a minimal ancient cluster, containing the basic structural scheme of one V, one J, and one C gene, has undergone a process of duplication and intrachromosomal transposition
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