Conservation of T Cell Receptor Conformation in Epidermal γδ Cells with Disrupted Primary V$_\gamma$ Gene Usage

A feature that distinguishes γδ T cell subsets from most αβ T cells and B cells is the association of expression of single T cell receptor (TCR) γ and δ variable (V) region gene segments with specific anatomic sites. Mice lacking the TCR V$_\gamma$5 chain normally expressed by most dendritic epidermal T cells were shown to retain a conformational determinant (idiotype) ordinarily expressed exclusively by such V$_\gamma$5$^+$ cells. Conservation by shuffled γδ TCR chains of an idiotype associated with a specific anatomic site indicates that for TCRγδ as for immunoglobulin, conformation is associated to a greater extent with the function or development of lymphocyte repertoires than is the use of particular gene segments.