CONSTRUCTION AND SEROLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A RECOMBINANT HUMAN SINGLE-CHAIN T-CELL RECEPTOR

A single chain T cell receptor (scTcr) was constructed from the comple te V alpha and V beta regions of Jurkat T-cell receptor alpha/beta cha in genes using molecular cloning techniques. The recombinant scTcr rea cted with a panel of rabbit antisera generated against synthetic 16-me r peptides duplicating the amino acid sequence of Jurkat V alpha and b eta chains but not with antisera directed against peptides from the co nstant domain. Autoantibodies present in sera from systemic lupus eryt hematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients bound the scTcr in ELISA assays. The recombinant scTcr described here should prove to be a useful reagent with which to study T-cell receptor activity in s erological and functional assays. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.