title: DNA sequence of the murine gamma 1 switch segment reveals novel structural elements.
abstract: Immunoglobulin heavy chain switch regions are segments of DNA considered to be important in mediating class switching in B lymphocytes. Whereas these segments vary in length among the different murine isotypes, their structural organization schemes are all based on the tandem repetition of unit sequences. We previously showed that the S gamma 1 segment unexpectedly contains sequence elements that differ significantly from its prevalent unit repeat (49mer). Here we extend this preliminary characterization by determining the complete nucleotide sequence of the cloned S gamma 1 segment from BALB/c DNA. We find that S gamma 1 consists of more than 120 tandemly repeated 49mers. In addition, we show that the previously identified non-49mer sequences are part of a direct repeat element about 350 bp in length (DR II), which exists in two copies at the 5' end of S gamma 1. We also show that another unrelated direct repeat element about 500 bp long (DR I) exists near the 5' and 3' ends of S gamma 1. Thus, the structure of the S gamma 1 segment might be may be abbreviated as 5'-DRII-(49mer)15-DRI-DRII-(49mer)n-DRI , where n is between 40 and 160. Our results of Southern hybridization experiments suggest that this basic structural scheme is maintained in eight different Igh haplotypes, although S gamma 1 segments in different Igh haplotypes include different numbers of 49mer elements. Other murine S gamma segments differ in size among various Igh loci, but to a lesser extent than S gamma 1. At the level of tandemly repeated sequences, S gamma 1, S gamma 3, and S gamma 2b represent three distinct, nonoverlapping sets of sequences.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mowatt
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Dunnick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D006238:Haploidy; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions / Q000235:genetics; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008806:Mice, Inbred AKR; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D004247:DNA