Abstract
Immunoglobulin λ light chains in the mouse comprise three types: λ1, λ2 and λ3 (refs 1–3 respectively) and are encoded by three constant region (Cλ) and two variable region (Vλ) genes. The Cλ2 and Cλ3 protein sequences differ at only 5 amino acid positions whereas Cλ1 differs from both by about 30 amino acids. The Cλ1 and Cλ3 genes are closely linked4, separated by ∼3 kilobases (kb) of DNA. The Cλ2 gene is closely linked to a Cλ4 gene, but is an unknown distance from the Cλ3–Cλ1 cluster4,5. Although the Cλ4 gene shares homology with Cλ1, we show here that it represents a pseudogene. Only two germ-line V genes appear to be expressed in mouse λ chains: Vλ1 is used in association with either Cλ1 (ref. 1) or Cλ3 (ref. 6), while Vλ2 has only been found with Cλ2 (ref. 2). Differential gene expression is observed in the λ locus. Among mouse serum antibodies, λ1 chains occur 10 times more frequently than λ2 (ref. 7) or λ3 (ref. 3) chains while λ4 chains have not been identified. We have now searched for structural differences between Cλ genes which could explain this differential expression. Our nucleotide sequence analysis indicates that Cλ4 is not expressed due to an inactive RNA splice site. Although no structural defects were found in Cλ2 or Cλ3, substitutions in the rearrangement recognition sequences associated with Jλ2 and Jλ3 segments, together with nearby competing pseudo recognition sequences, may explain the relatively low levels of Cλ2 and Cλ3 gene expression.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Weigert, M. & Riblet, R. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 41, 837–846 (1977).
Dugan, E. S., Bradshaw, R. A., Simms, E. S. & Eisen, H. N. Biochemistry 12, 5400–5416 (1973).
Azuma, T., Steiner, L. & Eisen, H. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 569–573 (1981).
Miller, J., Bothwell, A. & Storb, U. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 3829–3833 (1981).
Blomberg, B., Traunecker, A., Eisen, H. & Tonegawa, S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 3765–3769 (1981).
Breyer, R., Sauer, R. & Eisen, H. in ICN-UCLA Symp. molec. Cell. Biol. (eds Janeway etal.) (Academic, New York, in the press).
Cotner, T. & Eisen, H. N. J. exp. Med. 148, 1388–1399 (1978).
Max, E., Seidman, J. & Leder, P. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3450–3454 (1979).
Sakano, H., Huppi, K., Heinrich, G. & Tonegawa, S. Nature 280, 288–294 (1979).
Gough, N. M. & Bernard, O. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 509–513 (1981).
Early, P., Huang, H., Davis, M., Calame, K. & Hood, L. Cell 19, 981–992 (1980).
Appella, E. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68, 590–594 (1971).
Sharp, P. Cell 23, 643–646 (1981).
Weigert, M., Gatmaitan, L., Loh, E., Schilling, J. & Hood, L. Nature 276, 785–790 (1978).
Bernard, O., Hozumi, N. & Tonegawa, S. Cell 15, 1133–1144 (1978).
McIntyre, K. R. & Rouse, M. Fedn Proc. 29, 704 (1970).
Hieter, P., Korsmeyer, S., Waldmann, T. & Leder, P. Nature 290, 368–372 (1981).
Coleclough, C., Perry, R., Karjalainen, K. & Weigert, M. Nature 290, 372–378 (1981).
Cory, S., Tyler, B. & Adams, J. Molec. appl. Genet. 1 (in the press).
Zeelon, E., Bothwell, A., Kantor, F. & Schechter, J. Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 3809–3820 (1981).
Geckler, W., Blomberg, B., dePieval, C. & Cohn, M. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 41, 743–748 (1976).
Sanger, F., Nicklen, S. & Coulson, A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463–5467 (1977).
Selsing, E. & Storb, U. Cell 25, 47–58 (1981).
Messing, J., Crea, R. & Seeburg, P. Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 309–321 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miller, J., Selsing, E. & Storb, U. Structural alterations in J regions of mouse immunoglobulin λ genes are associated with differential gene expression. Nature 295, 428–430 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295428a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/295428a0
This article is cited by
-
Identification and utilization of arbitrary correlations in models of recombination signal sequences
Genome Biology (2002)
-
Human ? light chain locus: Organization and DNA sequences of three genomicJ regions
Immunogenetics (1987)
-
The SPE wild mouse strain has a single Ig V ? gene related to V ? I and V ? 2 of BALB/c
Immunogenetics (1987)
-
Somatic generation of antibody diversity
Nature (1983)
-
Diversity of immunoglobulin structural gene loci
Survey of Immunologic Research (1983)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
