Abstract
Immunoglobulin heavy (H) chain genes comprise a family of variable region (V) genes and several constant region (C) genes which are classified, in mouse, into five major classes: μ, γ, α, δ and ε. During differentiation of a given B lymphocyte, a specific VH gene is first expressed as a part of the μ-chain and at a later stage the expressed H chain switches the C region from μ to γ or α without alteration of the VH region sequence1–3. This phenomenon, called immunoglobulin class switch, involves a unique recombination event that takes place at the region 5′ to each CH gene during B-lymphocyte differentiation4–6. The regions responsible for the class switch (or S–S) recombination are defined as switch (S) regions4. Recent structural analyses, which have revealed that S regions comprise tandem repetition of short unit sequences7–10, have allowed us to define the S region on a structural basis. The nudeotide sequences of S regions vary among different classes of CH gene, inevitably raising the possibility that the Sμ sequence contains separate subsets of sequences, each of which may pair with the S region of a different class. To test this possibility it is necessary to characterize the whole Sμ region. However, because the μ-gene clones isolated by other groups5,11,12 have lost a major portion (∼3 kilobases [kb]) of the central core of the Sμ region, only a small part of the Sμ region sequence has been determined8,10,12,13. We have now characterized the complete Sμ region by nudeotide sequence determination and restriction enzyme cleavage, and have found that it comprises simple tandem repetition of two kinds of 5-base pairs (bp) unit sequences, GAGCT and GGGGT. The nudeotide sequence of the Sμ region shares short common sequences with all the other S-region sequences. The results clearly exclude the above-mentioned possibility and support the proposal7,9,10,13 that S–S recombination is mediated by repetitive homologous short sequences.
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Nikaido, T., Nakai, S. & Honjo, T. Switch region of immunoglobulin Cμ gene is composed of simple tandem repetitive sequences. Nature 292, 845–848 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292845a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292845a0
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