Genomic structure of the human pre-T cell receptor alpha chain and expression of two mRNA isoforms

The pre-TCR, which is minimally composed of the TCRbeta chain, the pre-Talpha chain, and the CD3 complex, regulates early T cell development. The pre-Talpha chain is a 33-kDa type I transmembrane glycoprotein with an extracellular part similar to the constant domain of the immunoglobulin supergene family. We have sequenced (11 kb) the human pTalpha gene, which like the murine pTalpha gene consists of four exons: exon 1 encodes the 5' untranslated region, the leader peptide and the first three amino acids of the mature protein, exon 2 the extracellular immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domain, exon 3 a 15-amino acid peptide including a cysteine required for heterodimerization with TCRbeta, exon 4 the transmembrane region, the cytoplasmic tail and the 3' untranslated sequence. The human pTalpha gene is located on chromosome 6p21.3, close to the HLA-A locus. Reverse transcription-PCR studies with human thymus and leukemic cells showed that alternative splicing produces a shorter pTalpha isoform, which lacks the Ig-like domain but contains the transmembrane elements and the extracytoplasmic cystein and which could thus permit pairing with TCRbeta chain and association with CD3 molecules. The conserved splice sites suggest a yet ill-defined biological function of the short pTalpha protein.