Vα and Vβ Public Repertoires Are Highly Conserved in Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase-Deficient Mice1

T cell repertoires observed in response to immunodominant and subdominant peptides include private, i.e., specific for each individual, as well as public, i.e., common to all mice or humans of the same MHC haplotype, Vα-Jα and Vβ-Dβ-Jβ rearrangements. To measure the impact of N-region diversity on public repertoires, we have characterized the αβ TCRs specific for several CD4 or CD8 epitopes of wild-type mice and of mice deficient in the enzyme TdT. We find that V, (D), J usage identified in public repertoires is strikingly conserved in TdT°/° mice, even for the CDR3 loops which are shorter than those found in TdT+/+ animals. Moreover, the 10- to 20-fold decrease in αβ T cell diversity in TdT°/° mice did not prevent T cells from undergoing affinity maturation during secondary responses. A comparison of the CDR3β in published public and private repertoires indicates significantly reduced N-region diversity in public CDR3β. We interpret our findings as suggesting that public repertoires are produced more efficiently than private ones by the recombination machinery. Alternatively, selection may be biased in favor of public repertoires in the context of the interactions between TCR and MHC peptide complexes and we hypothesize that MHCα helices are involved in the selection of public repertoires.

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