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  • Title: Molecular genetics of immunoglobulins.
    Author: Taussig MJ.
    Journal: Immunol Suppl; 1988; 1():7-15. PubMed ID: 3133312.
    Abstract:
    At the protein level, antibodies show several types of variability. One is the diversity of the variable (V) regions of heavy (H) and light (L) chains, leading to antibody-combining site specificity; another is the existence of two types of light chain (kappa and lambda); a third is the diversity of heavy chain-constant (CH) regions associated with different effector functions. At the DNA level, V-region variability is coded partly through the large number of VL- and VH-region genes and partly generated by integrating complete V genes from combinations of shorter segments (VL-JL for the light chain, VH-D-JH for the heavy chains), together with somatic mutational events (Tonegawa, 1983). kappa, lambda and H chains are coded independently on different chromosomes and have their own V- and C-region genes (Honjo, 1983). CH-region diversity results from a set of CH genes corresponding to the different Ig subclasses. During B-cell development, rearrangement of DNA occurs both in the VL/VH- and CH-region genes. V-region rearrangements take place at the pre-B-cell stage and produce the complete V-region genes for the heavy and light chains which will permanently characterize an individual clone; CH-region rearrangements enable mature B cells to secrete their V regions on different Ig classes (class switching). This article will review the structure and organization of V and C genes and the control of their expression.
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