Probing the human antibody repertoire to exogenous antigens: Characterization of the H and L chain V region gene segments from anti-hepatitis B virus antibodies

Journal Article · Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of Immunology; (United States)

OSTI ID:7064020

Andris, J S; Capra, J D ^[1]; Ehrlich, P H; Oestberg, L ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas (United States)
2. Sandoz Research Inst., East Hanover, NJ (United States)

Structural studies of human antibody V regions have been largely limited to those involving the fetal repertoire, autoantibodies, and malignant cell rearrangements, leaving the normal' repertoire relatively unexplored. In this study the authors describe the nucleotide sequences of the H and L chain V regions of four antibodies specific for the surface Ag of the hepatitis B virus. Monoclonal cell lines were derived from healthy individuals who received standard immunizations with the serum-derived or recombinant hepatitis B virus vaccines by fusion of PBL to a heterohybridoma cell line, SPAZ-4. They utilized the polymerase chain reaction to aimplify the H and L chain V regions for cloning and sequencing. The four antibodies express the following V region combinations: V[sub H]III/V[lambda]V, V[sub H]III/V[kappa]II, V[sub H]IV/V[kappa]I, V[sub H]V/V[lambda]III. When compared to germline genes with the closest sequence homology, all of the V regions appear to have undergone somatic mutation, ranging from 3.4 to 11.3% for the H chain, and 5.1 to 9.2% for the L chain. Analysis of the mutations shows them to be typical for an Ag-driven immune response. 50 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 7064020
• Journal Information: Journal of Immunology; (United States), Vol. 149:12; ISSN 0022-1767
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANTIBODIES
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
DNA SEQUENCING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GENE MUTATIONS
HEPATITIS
IMMUNOGLOBULINS
VIRUSES
DATA
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DISEASES
DISEASES
GLOBULINS
INFORMATION
MICROORGANISMS
MUTATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PARASITES
PROTEINS
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
550400* - Genetics
550200 - Biochemistry