• Complex process that results in excess of 1015 different possible antigen binding sites.
• Rearranges, joins V, D, J and C regions of the TCR gene and the processes of junctional flexibility, N and P-region nucleotide addition, alternative joining of genes, and multiple peptides combining to form the intact receptor.
• The mature TCR is formed from joining of an a and a b protein segment, and these proteins are membrane-bound in close association with either CD4 or CD8 as well as the costimulatory CD28 and CD45.