AbstractγδT cells are prevalent in the mucosal epithelia and are postulated to act as sentries to maintain tissue integrity. What these γδT cells recognize is poorly defined, but based on the restricted T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, the notion that they are selected by self-antigens of low complexity has been widely disseminated. We present data demonstrating that generation of the restricted TCR Vγ gene repertoire of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes is regulated by IL-15, which induces Vγ gene segmentspecific local chromatin modifications and enhanced accessibility conducive for subsequent targeted gene rearrangement. This cytokine-directed tissue-specific TCR repertoire formation likely reflects distinct TCR repertoire selection criteria for γδ and αβT cell lineages adopted for different antigen recognition strategies.Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (i-IELs) found within the intestinal epithelial layer are an essential component of mucosal immunity. Similar to T cell subsets in other lymphoid tissues, i-IELs are composed of two T cell types, αβ and γδT cells. In contrast to other tissues, however, γδT cells are prevalent in the mucosal epithelia of most vertebrates and are thought to be a major source of secreted factors necessary for the maintenance of tissue integrity subsequent to infection, transformation, or cell injury 1-3 .Despite the long history of i-IELs, their origin and ligand specificity remain uncertain. Earlier work has indicated that αβ i-IELs originate exclusively from the thymus in normal mice 4 , but whether γδ i-IELs are subject to similar developmental constraints is unclear. The majority of human and mouse γδ i-IELs express the homodimeric αα form of the CD8 coreceptor and exhibit restricted Variable (V) γ and V δ gene usage. In C57BL/6 (B6) mice, for example, V γ 5 expressing cells constitute the predominant i-IEL population in the small intestine [5][6][7] . Mouse strain-specific preferential usage of Tcrg and Tcrd genes among i-IELs arises from complex molecular and cellular controls with evidence for genetic linkage to the Tcrg, Tcrd and H2 loci 6,8,9 , but the exact mechanism is unknown. Two non-mutually exclusive mechanistic processes can be considered to account for the restricted TCR gene usage: cellular selection and programmed TCR gene rearrangement. A hallmark of adaptive immunity is the cellular selection process geared toward forming a population of cells with antigen receptor repertoires that can recognize the entire external universe of antigens. This selection pressure acts on immature cell subsets expressing randomly generated clonal antigen receptors. Although the TCR-driven selection shaping the αβTCR repertoire of conventional αβT cells constitutes a fundamental theme in immunology, whether a similar process is needed for γδT cell development, and specifically for γδ i-IELs, remains a matter of debate [10][11][12] .