Direct evidence for chromosomal inversion during T-cell receptor beta-gene rearrangements

A germline T-cell receptor variable region (V beta) gene segment (V beta 14) has been mapped 10 kilobases to the 3' side of the constant region (C beta 2) gene. The V beta 14 gene segment is in an inverted transcriptional polarity relative to the diversity-region (D beta) and joining-region (J beta) gene segments and the C beta genes. Analyses of a T-cell clone (J 6.19), which has productively rearranged the V beta 14 gene segment, indicate that the productive V beta-D beta-J beta rearrangement and its reciprocal flank recombination product are linked and located at either border of a chromosomal inversion. These data demonstrate for the first time a linkage between mammalian V and C genes and verify that a functional T-cell receptor V beta gene can be constructed through a chromosomal inversion.