Origin of immunoglobulins and T cell receptors: A candidate gene for invasion by the RAG transposon.

Abstract

Rearranging antigen receptors (AgRs) arose when a variable (V) domain exon was invaded by the recombination-activating gene (RAG) transposon ~500 million years ago. We show here that the elasmobranch immunoglobulin heavy (IgH) isotypes-IgM, IgW, and IgNAR-are linked near the αδ T cell receptor (TCRαδ) locus. This linkage presages the emergence of the osteichthyan IgH translocon arrangement and clarifies the relationship between IgH and TCRδs. Recently, we reported <i>UrIg</i>, a nonrearranging, elasmobranch major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-linked AgR gene. Here, we describe a nonrearranging <i>UrIg</i> paralogue, <i>UrIg2</i>, linked to this IgM/IgNAR/IgW/TCRαδ gene cluster in an AgR complex (AgRC). UrIg2 amino-terminal domains make homodimers where the C2-C3 structure resembles IgGFc. A relative of the UrIg2 V domain exon was invaded by the RAG transposon, revealing the genesis of the adaptive immune system. Our data indicate that an ancestral chromosome encoded an AgR precursor, undergoing RAG-mediated rearrangement after genome-wide duplication on one chromosome and retaining nonrearranging relics in the MHC and AgRC.