title: Complexity of the immunoglobulin light chain V kappa 1 gene family in the New Zealand black mouse.
abstract: The immunoglobulin light chain V kappa 1 gene family is polymorphic in murine inbred strains and this family has been subdivided into five sub-groups (V kappa 1A-E). The V kappa 1A sub-group contributes to approximately 2% of the total serum immunoglobulin light chains in several mouse strains. However, it has been reported that this sub-group is absent in New Zealand Black (NZB) mouse serum. Amino acid sequencing of myeloma proteins from this inbred mouse has shown that they belong to the V kappa 1B sub-group. We report here the structure of nine functional germline genes from NZB mice that have high homologies to the V kappa 1A, V kappa 1B, V kappa 1C, and V kappa 1D sub-groups. In addition, a novel germline gene representing the prototype of a new sub-group (designated V kappa 1F) has been identified. We have isolated different V kappa 1 germline genes from a single restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) fragment, as well as identical V genes from two different RFLP migrating bands. Therefore, the complexity of the genes encoding the immunoglobulin variable region cannot be determined solely by RFLP analysis. Nucleotide sequence analysis of 16 V kappa 1 genes which code for NZB autoantibodies indicate that they belong to five different V kappa 1 sub-groups with five hybridomas (31%) expressing the V kappa 1A sub-group. Comparison of the sequences of V kappa 1 genes expressed in hybridomas with corresponding germline genes show no somatic mutations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029.
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Kasturi
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Alt
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bona
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000276:immunology; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008814:Mice, Inbred NZB; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains