Comparison of D, JH, and junctional diversity in the fetal, adult, and aged B cell repertoires

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 146; no. 6; pp. 1996 - 2004
• Main Authors: Bangs, LA, Sanz, IE, Teale, JM
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Am Assoc Immnol 15.03.1991; American Association of Immunologists
• Subjects: Aging - immunology; Animals; Antibody Diversity; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Fetus - immunology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes. Genome; Immunoglobulin delta-Chains - genetics; Immunoglobulin J-Chains - genetics; Immunoglobulin Joining Region - genetics; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Poly A - genetics; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Immunoglobulins; Nucleotide sequence; Variable region; Rodentia; Diversity; B-Lymphocyte; Vertebrata; Immunogenetics; Mammalia; Gene; Mouse; Development; Fetus
• ISSN: 0022-1767; 1550-6606
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.146.6.1996

Polymerase chain reaction-amplified cDNA libraries of the IgH genes of fetal, young adult, and aged BALB/c mice were sequenced so that the complimentarity determining region 3 (CDR3) in each could be analyzed. The results show extensive diversity in the CDR3 region in all three libraries examined. A prominent feature of the fetal repertoire is the lack of nucleotide region additions and shorter germline-derived D segments compared with the adult repertoires. Also of interest were distinct differences in D family and JH usage in the three libraries representing different stages of ontogeny. The absence of DFL16.2 in the fetal sequences analyzed was of particular note. Also of note was a substantial underutilization of the largest D family, DSP2, in the aged repertoire. The study provides further evidence that the Ig repertoire is developmentally regulated. In addition, the results indicate that several aspects of the recombination process are different in adult and fetal B lineage cells, suggesting that B cells present early in ontogeny are distinct from those present in the adult.