TCRn

TCRn is not a single, widely recognized term. Depending on the field, it may refer to different concepts related to T cell receptors or to data describing TCR sequences. In immunology, TCRn is sometimes used informally to denote nucleotide-level information of T-cell receptor (TCR) genes, or specifically the N-nucleotide additions that occur during V(D)J recombination. These N-nucleotides, added by the enzyme terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) at V-D and D-J junctions, contribute to the diversity of the TCR repertoire.

In computational biology and bioinformatics, TCRn may appear as an abbreviation in analyses or datasets describing TCR nucleotide sequences, or as a label in pipelines and databases that handle nucleotide data rather than amino acid data. However, not all sources use the term consistently, and many researchers refer simply to TCR sequences, TCR DNA, or TCR nucleotide data.

There is no standard, universally accepted definition for TCRn. When encountered, the term should be interpreted in the context of the source material, with attention to the authors’ definitions, methods, and glossary. If a specific paper or database uses TCRn, consulting that source is essential to determine what is being described.