Trav15-dv6 family Tcrd rearrangements diversify the Tcra repertoire

Dauphars et al. show that prior Tcrd rearrangement is essential for a combinatorially diverse Tcra repertoire in mouse thymocytes. Trav15-dv6 family Tcrd rearrangements are critical for Tcra repertoire formation because of their central and distal locations in the Va-Vd array. Overall design: High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze Tcra repertoire from RNA purified from sorted DP thymocytes from groups of 2 mice bearing either wild-type or genetically modified Tcra-Tcrd alleles.