Activation-induced modification in the CD3 complex of the gammadelta T cell receptor

The T cell antigen receptor complexes expressed on alphabeta and gammadelta T cells differ not only in their respective clonotypic heterodimers but also in the subunit composition of their CD3 complexes. The gammadelta T cell receptors (TCRs) expressed on ex vivo gammadelta T cells lack CD3delta, whereas alphabeta TCRs contain CD3delta. While this result correlates with the phenotype of CD3delta(-/-) mice, in which gammadelta T cell development is unaffected, it is inconsistent with the results of previous studies reporting that CD3delta is a component of the gammadelta TCR. Since earlier studies examined the subunit composition of gammadelta TCRs expressed on activated and expanded peripheral gammadelta T cells or gammadelta TCR(+) intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes, we hypothesized that activation and expansion may lead to changes in the CD3 subunit composition of the gammadelta TCR. Here, we report that activation and expansion do in fact result in the inclusion of a protein, comparable in mass and mobility to CD3delta, in the gammadelta TCR. Further analyses revealed that this protein is not CD3delta, but instead is a differentially glycosylated form of CD3gamma. These results provide further evidence for a major difference in the subunit composition of alphabeta- and gammadelta TCR complexes and raise the possibility that modification of CD3gamma may have important functional consequences in activated gammadelta T cells.