EVIDENCE FOR LINKAGE BETWEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASTHMA IN CHILDHOOD AND THE T-CELL RECEPTOR-BETA CHAIN GENE IN JAPANESE

Susceptibility to the development of asthma and other atopic diseases is known to be associated with genetic components, and several candida te genes have been reported to be linked to atopy and asthma. We have examined a linkage between traits of specific IgE responses to the hou se dust mite and its purified allergens, high total serum IgE levels a nd asthma, and the markers at the T-cell receptor (TCR) alpha chain ge ne (TCF-alpha) and beta chain gene (TCR-beta) in Japanese families asc ertained through asthmatic children. Affected sib-pair analyses provid ed evidence for linkage between TCR-beta and nearby markers (D7S684) o n chromosome 7q35 and both IgE and asthmatic phenotypes, but no eviden ce for linkage of IgE responses nor asthma phenotype to TCR-alpha was detected. The results suggest the presence of major gene(s) controllin g atopy and asthma susceptibility in TCR-beta and the nearby region. ( C) 1998 Academic Press.