Fig. 5: Age-related changes within the A2/M158+CD8+ CDR3αβ-motifs.
a, The top-scoring A2/M158+CD8+ CDR3α (left TCR logo) and CDR3β (right TCR logo) sequence motifs for each age group. Each logo depicts the V (left side) and J (right side) gene frequencies with the CDR3 amino acid sequence in the middle with the full height (top) and scaled (bottom) by per-residue reparative entropy to background frequencies derived from TCRs with matching gene-segment composition to highlight motif positions under selection. The middle section indicates the inferred rearrangement structure by source region (light gray for V-region, dark gray for J, black for D and red for N insertions) of the grouped receptors. b, Persistence of TCRα clonotypes expressing selected prominent CDR3α motifs across different age groups. Colors identify the most prominent CDR3α motifs. Shared clonotypes are connected by colored lines. c, Frequency of the most prominent CDR3α motifs GGGSQG, GGG and GG across the different age groups. d, Persistence of TCRβ clonotypes expressing selected prominent CDR3β motifs across different age groups. Colors identify the most prominent CDR3β motifs. Shared clonotypes are connected by colored lines. e, Frequency of the most prominent CDR3β motifs IV, RS, IG, YGY, IY and IF across the different age groups. Bars indicate the median, dots represent individual donors, with n = 6 newborns, n = 12 children, n = 8 adults and n = 10 older adults (c,f). Statistical analysis was performed using a two-sided Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s correction for multiple tests. P values are indicated above the graphs. N, newborn; C, children; A, adult; OA, older adult.
