Abstract
Production of a functional immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene requires multiple recombination events1–5. In germ-line cells, segments of the classical variable portion are encoded in separate genetic elements: variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) regions3,5,6. The genes encoding the different clustered constant-region domains (5′-μ, δ, γ3, γ1, γ2b, γ2a, ε, α-3′) are widely separated from the variable region7–12. During differentiation to immunoglobulin production, one allele containing genes coding for the V, D, J and C segments is rearranged to form a coding sequence for the synthesis of heavy chain. In some cells, the other alleles for heavy-chain segments are rearranged, albeit differently8. At the protein level, expression of only one of the alleles is detected (allelic exclusion)13,14. We report here studies on a class of mouse myeloma MOPC 315 variant cell lines which has lost the ability to produce α heavy-chain protein or mRNA. Hybridization analysis indicates that the functional α allele has been lost. However, these variants synthesize unusual RNA species that include α constant-region sequences. We conclude that this transcription is from the ‘excluded’ allele. Expression of these aberrant RNAs is altered in the presence of a productive gene.
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Ponte, P., Siekevitz, M., Schwartz, R. et al. Transcription of immunoglobulin heavy-chain sequences from the excluded allele. Nature 291, 594–596 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/291594a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/291594a0
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