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Title: Human immunoglobulin C/sub lambda/6 gene encodes the Kern /sup +/Oz/sup -/ lambda chain and C/sub lambda/4 and C/sub lambda 5/ are pseudogenes

Journal Article · · Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.; (United States)

Six nonallelic immunoglobulin lambda constant region genes have been previously characterized on a 40-kilobase stretch of DNA. The nucleotide sequences of the three upstream genes of this cluster (C/sub lambda/1, C/sub lambda/2, C/sub lambda/3) have been determined by other workers and shown to encode, respectively, the isotypic Mcg, Kern/sup -/Oz/sup -/, and Kern/sup -/Oz/sup +/ constant region of the lambda chains. In this paper, the authors report the sequence of the three downstream genes of this cluster and show that two of them (C/sub lambda/4 and C/sub lambda/5) are pseudogenes. However, C/sub lambda/6 encodes a Kern/sup +/Oz/sup -/ chain and corresponds to the fourth isotype described among the lambda proteins sequenced so far. A potentially active J/sub lambda/ (joining) segment, with the canonical heptamer and nonamer sequences for rearrangement, is located 1.5 kilobases upstream of C/sub lambda/6. The amino acid sequence encoded by the C/sub lambda/6 gene is compared with the constant region sequences of various monoclonal Bence Jones lambda proteins. Allotypic and isotypic differences confirm the polymorphism and complexity of the human C/sub lambda/ locus.

Research Organization:
Universite des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Montpellier (France)
OSTI ID:
6218084
Journal Information:
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.; (United States), Vol. 84:24
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English