Activation of an excluded immunoglobulin allele in a human B lymphoma cell line.
Mature B cells that express surface immunoglobulin (Ig) are usually committed to their original Ig product. It was shown that such a cell can replace its light chain by rearranging and expressing a new light chain from the other allele. Anti-idiotype antibodies were used to isolate idiotypic variants from a surface IgM+lambda+ human B cell tumor line. The variants expressed a new lambda light chain. Both the original and the new lambda transcripts were present in the variant cells, but only the new one was expressed as a protein on the cell surface. Therefore, although the cell exhibited allelic exclusion and had only one Ig receptor at a time, the commitment to a particular light chain gene was reversible.
Berinstein
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N
Department of Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305.
Levy
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S
Levy
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R
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D015342:DNA Probes; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes / Q000276:immunology; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000235:genetics; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / Q000235:genetics; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D015342:DNA Probes; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains; D004247:DNA