Abstract
In view of the recently determined three‐dimensional structures of complexes formed by the T cell receptor for antigen (TCR), the processed peptide and the MHC class I molecule, it is expected that the combined configuration formed by the third complementarity determining regions (CDR3) of TCR α and β chains will be very restricted in size and shape due to the limited length variations of the processed peptides. Thus, the combined TCR α and β chain CDR3 lengths should have a fairly narrow distribution. This feature can be due to the selective association of long α chain CDR3 with short β chain CDR3 and vice versa or due to random assortment of α and β chain CDR3 of even narrower length distribution. Based on existing translated amino acid sequence data, it has been found that the latter mechanism is responsible.
Funding Information
  • National Institutes of Health (5 R24 AI25616-10)