A directory of human germ-line V kappa segments reveals a strong bias in their usage.
From the genomic DNA of a single individual, we have amplified, cloned and sequenced 37 human germ-line V kappa segments. Four of these segments were new. We then compiled a comprehensive directory of all germ-line V kappa segments and identified 50 different sequences with open reading frames. Comparison with 236 rearranged sequences revealed that no more than 24 of these germ-line sequences could be assigned rearranged counterparts, that some of these were rarely used, and that only about 11 sequences are used frequently. This suggests that the expressed V kappa repertoire is mainly derived from a limited number of segments. Most surprisingly, the J kappa-distal region of the locus appears to be rarely used: we could unambiguously assign 162 rearranged sequences to V kappa segments of the J kappa-proximal region, but only 5 to segments of the J kappa-distal region.
Cox
J P
JP
MRC Centre for Protein Engineering, Cambridge.
Tomlinson
I M
IM
Winter
G
G
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains