HTS and scRNA-seq revealed that the location and RSS quality of the mammalian TRBV and TRBJ genes impact biased rearrangement.

Abstract

The quality of Recombination signal sequences (RSSs), location, and genetics of mammalian V, D, and J genes synergistically affect the recombination frequency of genes; however, the specific regulatory mechanism and efficiency have not been elucidated. By taking advantage of single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to investigate V(D)J rearrangement characteristics in the CDR3 repertoire, we found that the distal and proximal V genes (or J genes) "to D" gene were involved in rearrangement significantly more frequently than the middle V genes (or J genes) in the TRB locus among various species, including Primates (human and rhesus monkey), Rodentia (BALB/c, C57BL/6, and Kunming mice), Artiodactyla (buffalo), and Chiroptera (Rhinolophus affinis). The RSS quality of the V and J genes affected their frequency in rearrangement to varying degrees, especially when the V-RSSs with recombination signal information content (RIC) score < -45 significantly reduced the recombination frequency of the V gene. The V and J genes that were "away from D" had the dual advantages of recombinant structural accessibility and relatively high-quality RSSs, which promoted their preferential utilization in rearrangement. The quality of J-RSSs formed during mammalian evolution was apparently greater than that of V-RSSs, and the D-J distance was obviously shorter than that of V-D, which may be one of the reasons for guaranteeing that the "D-to-J preceding V-to-DJ rule" occurred when rearranged. This study provides a novel perspective on the mechanism and efficiency of V-D-J rearrangement in the mammalian TRB locus, as well as the biased utilization characteristics and application of V and J genes in the initial CDR3 repertoire.