T-cell surface glycoprotein CD3 zeta chain
protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens
T-cell surface glycoprotein CD3 zeta chain also known as T-cell receptor T3 zeta chain or CD247 (Cluster of Differentiation 247) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CD247 gene.
Some older literature mention a similar protein called "CD3 eta" in mice. It is now understood to be an isoform differing in the last exon.
Gene
The gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 1 at location 1q22-q25 on the Crick (negative) strand. The encoded protein is 164 amino acids long with a predicted weight of 18.696 kiloDaltons.
Two alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been found for this gene.
Function
T-cell receptor zeta (ζ), together with T-cell receptor αβ or γδ heterodimers and CD3 γ, δ, and ε units, forms the T-cell receptor-CD3 complex. The ζ chain appears in this complex as a disulfide-linked homodimer and appears to be necessary for the assembly of T-cell receptor components in the endoplasmic reticulum and trafficking to the plasma membrane in an adaptor protein-like manner. Absence of the ζ chain results in a failure of exocytosis and direction of the other receptor components to lysosomes for degradation.
The ζ chain plays an important role in coupling antigen recognition to several intracellular signal-transduction pathways.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “T-cell surface glycoprotein CD3 zeta chain” is protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through T-cell, surface and glycoprotein, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17857829. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “T-cell surface glycoprotein CD3 zeta chain” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.