The D-JHcomplex is an intermediate to the complete immunoglobulin beavy-chain V-region gene

Abstract

We have examined the organization of the immunoglobulin J_H segments in three clones derived from a single Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed cell. Cloning and nucleotide sequence analyses of the J_H-containing fragments have revealed the rearrangement from the preformed D-J_H complex to the complete V_H-D-J_H gene, which was accompanied by the expression of the intra-cytoplasmic V chain. In one case a J_H segment downstream to the preformed D-J_H was used to create a new V_H-D-J_H gene. Upon the D-J_H and Vh-D-J_H rearrangements the intervening D segments were deleted from the chromosome. Ore of the expressed V_H genes suffered from a large deletion of the 3' portion (including the 95th cysteine residue) of the V_H segment. He discuss the possible mechanism of the allelic exclusion.