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Article
Nature 276, 785 - 790 (21 December 1978); doi:10.1038/276785a0

Rearrangement of genetic information may produce immunoglobulin diversity

M. Weigert†, L. Gatmaitan†, E. Loh‡, J. Schilling*‡ & L. Hood‡

†Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111
‡Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
*Present address: Biochemistry Department, Stanford Medical School, Stanford, California 94305.

The nearly complete amino-acid sequences of 22 closely related immunoglobulin kappa variable (Vkappa) regions from the inbred NZB mouse are presented. This group of Vkappa regions is encoded by at least six germline Vkappa genes. These data also suggest that the mouse kappa gene is divided into three segments termed V or variable (residues 1 to 98 or 99), J or joining (residues 99 or 100 to 112) and C or constant (residues 113−219). Tonegawa et al. have recently described a similar J segment for mouse lambda chains. Inbred mice contain multiple Vkappa and Jkappa gene segments. Therefore, different combinations of V and J gene segments may be joined at the DNA level during the differentiation of individual lymphocytes to contribute to antibody diversity.

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