THE T-CELL RECEPTOR REPERTOIRE OF INTESTINAL INTRAEPITHELIAL GAMMA-DELTA T-LYMPHOCYTES IS INFLUENCED BY GENES LINKED TO THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX AND TO THE T-CELL RECEPTOR LOCI

Most of the gamma delta T cells in the intestinal epithelium of normal mice use the V gamma 1 or the V gamma 7 gene segments, However, the r elative proportions of gamma delta intraepithelial lymphocytes express ing either the V gamma 1 or the V gamma 7 chain vary among different s trains of mice whereas they are quite constant between different indiv iduals of the same strain, suggesting that genetic factors, rather tha n environmental factors, are responsible for the observed differences, To analyze the genetic factors influencing the representation of diff erent gamma delta T cell subsets in the intestinal epithelium, we used available anti-T cell antigen receptor (TCR) V region-specific mAbs a gainst V gamma 1, V gamma 4, V gamma 7, and V delta 4 to examine the T CR repertoire of intraepithelial gamma delta lymphocytes in a set of ( C57BL/6 x DBA/2) recombinant inbred strains, Our results show that the representation of different V gamma and V delta gene products among g amma delta intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes is under a complex g enetic control with a marked influence by genes closely linked to the TCR gamma, TCR delta, and major histocompatibility complex loci.