Utilization of V kappa families and V kappa exons. Implications for the available B cell repertoire.
A molecular cloning approach was used to determine the relative utilization of 2 individual V kappa 21 genes, 13 V kappa gene families, and the 4 functional J kappa gene segments among splenic B cells of nonimmunized BALB/c mice. Based on the observed frequency of individual V kappa gene expression, we estimate that the mouse genome encodes 150 to 180 functional V kappa genes, and we suggest that most functional V kappa exons are expressed at comparable frequencies in the preimmune antibody repertoire. In contrast, clear differences in J kappa segment utilization were observed, J kappa 4 being consistently underrepresented with respect to the other J kappa segments.
Immunology Program, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.
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D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D015723:Gene Library; D015328:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Light Chain; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry
D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA