The activation of T lymphocytes by antigens is mediated by the T cell receptor (TCR) which is a multisubunit complex assembled from at least six different genes. The TCR subunits include the Ti α and β chains, the CD3 γ, δ and e chains and a ζ-containing homodimer or heterodimer. The disulfide-linked Ti α-β heterodimer is responsible for antigen recognition, but the short 5 amino acid cytoplasmic domains of Ti α and β are unlikely to be sufficient to couple to intracellular signaling pathways. In contrast, the structured features of the CD3 and ζ subunits suggest a role in signal transduction. Of these, the ζ chain, which is expressed as either a homodimer or heterodimer, has a short extracellular domain of only 9 amino acids, but a larger 113 amino acid cytoplasmic domain. A tyrosine phosphoprotein, ZAP-70, has been identified that associates with z and undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation following TCR stimulation.
