T cell receptor pseudogene

The T cell receptor pseudogene refers to a genomic segment homologous to genes encoding parts of the T cell receptor but which, due to sequence mutations such as frame shifts or premature stop codons, cannot encode a functional protein product[1][5]. Pseudogenes are remnants of formerly functional genes and are observed in the T cell receptor loci due to the complex and highly recombinatorial nature of these loci during T cell development[1][5]. T cell receptor pseudogenes may be transcribed but are not translated into functional receptors and do not play a direct role in signal transduction, immune response, or serve as therapeutic targets[1][5]. They can, however, inform population studies of immune diversity and may contribute to variation in immunogenetics[1].