Structure, expression and divergence of T-cell receptor β-chain variable regions

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Abstract
Analysis of 3 new [mouse] T cell receptor .beta.-chain variable [V] regions together with those in the literature indicates that they have both remarkable similarities and differences with those of Ig. Less than 10 V regions appear to predominate in the thymus. V.beta. sequences are much more heterogeneous at the amino acid level than are Ig V regions and they appear to diverge between species much more quickly, apparently the result of additional hypervariable regions. Three of these putative new hypervariable regions lie outside of the classical Ig binding site, an indication that important interactions may be occurring in these regions with polymorphic MHC [major histocompatibility complex] determinants.