Molecular basis for differential Igk versus Igh V(D)J joining mechanisms.

In developing B cells, V(D)J recombination assembles exons encoding IgH and Igκ variable regions from hundreds of gene segments clustered across Igh and Igk loci. V, D and J gene segments are flanked by conserved recombination signal sequences (RSSs) that target RAG endonuclease1. RAG orchestrates Igh V(D)J recombination upon capturing a JH-RSS within the JH-RSS-based recombination centre1-3 (RC). JH-RSS orientation programmes RAG to scan upstream D- and VH-containing chromatin that is presented in a linear manner by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion4-7. During Igh scanning, RAG robustly utilizes only D-RSSs or VH-RSSs in convergent (deletional) orientation with JH-RSSs4-7. However, for Vκ-to-Jκ joining, RAG utilizes Vκ-RSSs from deletional- and inversional-oriented clusters8, inconsistent with linear scanning2. Here we characterize the Vκ-to-Jκ joining mechanism. Igk undergoes robust primary and secondary rearrangements9,10, which confounds scanning assays. We therefore engineered cells to undergo only primary Vκ-to-Jκ rearrangements and found that RAG scanning from the primary Jκ-RC terminates just 8 kb upstream within the CTCF-site-based Sis element11. Whereas Sis and the Jκ-RC barely interacted with the Vκ locus, the CTCF-site-based Cer element12 4 kb upstream of Sis interacted with various loop extrusion impediments across the locus. Similar to VH locus inversion7, DJH inversion abrogated VH-to-DJH joining; yet Vκ locus or Jκ inversion allowed robust Vκ-to-Jκ joining. Together, these experiments implicated loop extrusion in bringing Vκ segments near Cer for short-range diffusion-mediated capture by RC-based RAG. To identify key mechanistic elements for diffusional V(D)J recombination in Igk versus Igh, we assayed Vκ-to-JH and D-to-Jκ rearrangements in hybrid Igh-Igk loci generated by targeted chromosomal translocations, and pinpointed remarkably strong Vκ and Jκ RSSs. Indeed, RSS replacements in hybrid or normal Igk and Igh loci confirmed the ability of Igk-RSSs to promote robust diffusional joining compared with Igh-RSSs. We propose that Igk evolved strong RSSs to mediate diffusional Vκ-to-Jκ joining, whereas Igh evolved weaker RSSs requisite for modulating VH joining by RAG-scanning impediments.

Partial recovery of disturbed V-J pairing profiles of T-cell receptor in people living with HIV receiving long-term antiretroviral therapy.

Chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection not only causes a gradual loss of CD4+ T cells but also leads to a disturbance of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. In people living with HIV (PLWH), monitoring TCR repertoire is challenged by the inconsistency of complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) and limited cell numbers in clinical samples. Thus, a quantitative method is necessary for monitoring the TCR repertoire in PLWH. We characterized the TCR V-J pairing profile of naïve and memory CD4+ T cells in healthy donors, HIV-infected antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve patients and long-term (over 5 years) ART-experienced patients by performing TCR sequencing. We developed a V-J index with 18 parameters which were subdivided into five categories (expression coverage, cumulative percentage of the top tenth percentile, diversity, intra-individual similarity and inter-individual similarity). In ART-naïve patients, 14 of the 18 parameters were significantly altered. Long-term ART recovered ten parameters. The four unrecovered parameters were related to inter-individual similarity. Therefore, these findings indicate that long-term ART could only partially recover TCR V-J pairs and introduce newly impacted V-J pairs. Moreover, these results provide new insights into the V-J pairing of the TCR and into the disturbance of TCR repertoire in HIV infection.

Chronic Viral Infection Promotes Efficient Germinal Center B Cell Responses.

Persistent viral infections subvert key elements of adaptive immunity. To compare germinal center (GC) B cell responses in chronic and acute lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, we exploit activation-induced deaminase (AID) fate-reporter mice and perform adoptive B cell transfer experiments. Chronic infection yields GC B cell responses of higher cellularity than acute infections do, higher memory B cell and antibody secreting cell output for longer periods of time, a better representation of the late B cell repertoire in serum immunoglobulin, and higher titers of protective neutralizing antibodies. GC B cells of chronically infected mice are similarly hypermutated as those emerging from acute infection. They efficiently adapt to viral escape variants and even in hypermutation-impaired AID mutant mice, chronic infection selects for GC B cells with hypermutated B cell receptors (BCRs) and neutralizing antibody formation. These findings demonstrate that, unlike for CD8+ T cells, chronic viral infection drives a functional, productive, and protective GC B cell response.

In vivo clonal expansion and phenotypes of hypocretin-specific CD4+ T cells in narcolepsy patients and controls.

Individuals with narcolepsy suffer from abnormal sleep patterns due to loss of neurons that uniquely supply hypocretin (HCRT). Previous studies found associations of narcolepsy with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ6 allele and T-cell receptor α (TRA) J24 gene segment and also suggested that in vitro-stimulated T cells can target HCRT. Here, we present evidence of in vivo expansion of DQ6-HCRT tetramer+/TRAJ24+/CD4+ T cells in DQ6+ individuals with and without narcolepsy. We identify related TRAJ24+ TCRαß clonotypes encoded by identical α/ß gene regions from two patients and two controls. TRAJ24-G allele+ clonotypes only expand in the two patients, whereas a TRAJ24-C allele+ clonotype expands in a control. A representative tetramer+/G-allele+ TCR shows signaling reactivity to the epitope HCRT87-97. Clonally expanded G-allele+ T cells exhibit an unconventional effector phenotype. Our analysis of in vivo expansion of HCRT-reactive TRAJ24+ cells opens an avenue for further investigation of the autoimmune contribution to narcolepsy development.

Improved clonality analysis based on immunoglobulin kappa locus for canine cutaneous plasmacytoma.

Sensitivity of clonality analysis based on immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) in canine cutaneous plasmacytoma is lower than that in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) because of somatic hypermutation occurring at the IGH locus. Therefore, this study aimed to improve the sensitivity of clonality analysis for canine cutaneous plasmacytoma. To achieve this, clonality analysis based on the immunoglobulin kappa chain (IGK) locus was established. Sensitivity and specificity were examined in genomic DNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections of cutaneous plasmacytomas, DLBCLs, and lymph nodes without lymphoma. Forward primers were designed based on the IGKV genes, and reverse primers were designed based on the IGKJ genes and kappa deleting element (Kde). Analysis using IGKV and IGKJ primers demonstrated clonality in 24 of 29 cutaneous plasmacytomas (82.8%), while analysis with primers for IGKV and Kde showed clonality in 16 of 29 cases (55.2%). In DLBCL, the IGKV and IGKJ primer set yielded clonality in 18 of 23 cases (78.3%), and the IGKV and Kde primer set yielded 9 of 23 cases (39.1%). No clonal results were obtained from 23 lymph nodes without lymphoma. Sensitivity of the IGKV and IGKJ primer set was significantly higher than that of the IGH primers reported previously. Thus, clonality analysis based on the IGK locus can be utilized for canine B cell tumors. In conclusion, clonality testing based on IGH and IGK may be beneficial as an adjunct tool for diagnosis of canine B cell tumors including cutaneous plasmacytoma.

Identification of Variable and Joining Germline Genes and Alleles for Rhesus Macaque from B Cell Receptor Repertoires.

The rhesus macaque is a valuable preclinical animal model to estimate vaccine effectiveness and is also important for understanding Ab maturation and B cell repertoire evolution responding to vaccination. However, incomplete mapping of rhesus Ig germline genes hinders the research efforts. To address this deficiency, we sequenced the BCR repertoires of 75 Indian rhesus macaques. Using a bioinformatic method that has been validated with BCR repertoire analysis of three human donors, we were able to infer rhesus variable (V) and joint (J) germline alleles. We identified a total of 122 V and 20 J germline alleles, of which 91 V and 13 J alleles were novel, with 40 V novel genes, of which 8 were located at a novel genomic region not, to our knowledge, previously recorded. The novelty of these newly identified alleles was supported by two observations. First, the 50 V and 5 J novel alleles were observed in the whole genome sequencing data of 10 rhesus macaques. Second, using alignment reference including the novel alleles, the mutation rate of the rearranged repertoires significantly declined in nine other irrelevant samples, and all our identified novel V and J alleles were 100%-identity mapped by rearranged repertoire data. These identified novel alleles, along with the previously reported alleles, provide an important reference for future investigations of rhesus immune repertoire evolution in response to vaccination or infection. In addition, the method outlined in our study offers a powerful foundation for the identification of novel Ig alleles in the future.

Cutting Edge: Proper Orientation of CTCF Sites in Cer Is Required for Normal Jκ-Distal and Jκ-Proximal Vκ Gene Usage.

Igκ locus contraction and Vκ gene usage are controlled by Cer, a cis-acting sequence in the Vκ-Jκ intervening region. This effect is attributed to two CTCF-binding sites within Cer that are oriented toward the Vκ gene region. However, the importance of Cer CTCF orientation in regulating VκJκ rearrangement is unknown. We used CRISPR/Cas9 editing to delete and invert Cer in murine Abl pro-B cell lines. This revealed that Cer orientation is critical because clones with either an inverted or deleted Cer element show skewing toward Jκ-proximal Vκ gene usage. However, only Cer deletion increased Jκ-proximal Vκ germline transcription, suggesting an insulating function of Cer. Lastly, circularized chromosome conformation capture interaction data show that Cer CTCF orientation regulates long-range interactions with inversion clones displaying fewer interactions with regions in the middle and distal parts of the Vκ locus and more interactions to downstream regions compared with wild-type or deletion clones.

Combined Influence of B-Cell Receptor Rearrangement and Somatic Hypermutation on B-Cell Class-Switch Fate in Health and in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

A diverse B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoire is required to bind a wide range of antigens. BCRs are generated through genetic recombination and can be diversified through somatic hypermutation (SHM) or class-switch recombination (CSR). Patterns of repertoire diversity can vary substantially between different health conditions. We use isotype-resolved BCR sequencing to compare B-cell evolution and class-switch fate in healthy individuals and in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We show that the patterns of SHM and CSR in B-cells from healthy individuals are distinct from CLL. We identify distinct properties of clonal expansion that lead to the generation of antibodies of different classes in healthy, malignant, and non-malignant CLL BCR repertoires. We further demonstrate that BCR diversity is affected by relationships between antibody variable and constant regions leading to isotype-specific signatures of variable gene usage. This study provides powerful insights into the mechanisms underlying the evolution of the adaptive immune responses in health and their aberration during disease.

Epigenetic modifications of the VH region after DJH recombination in Pro-B cells.

The variable region of murine immunoglobulin heavy chain (Igh) is assembled by sequential DH -JH and VH -DJH recombination. The accessibility of the Igh locus determines the order of rearrangement. Because of the large number of VH genes and the lack of a suitable model, the epigenetic modifications of VH genes after DJH recombination have not previously been characterized. Here, we employed two v-Abl pro-B cell lines, in which the Igh locus is in germline and DJH -recombined configurations, respectively. The DJH junction displays the characteristics of a recombination centre, such as high levels of activation-associated histone modifications and recombination-activating gene protein (RAG) binding in DJH -rearranged pro-B cells, which extend the recombination centre model proposed for the germline Igh locus. The different domains of the VH region have distinct epigenetic characteristics after DJH recombination. Distal VH genes have higher levels of active histone modifications, germline transcription and Pax5 binding, and good quality recombination signal sequences. Proximal VH genes are relatively close to the DJH recombination centre, which partially compensates for the low levels of the above active epigenetic modifications. DJH recombination centre might serve as a cis-acting element to regulate the accessibility of the VH region. Furthermore, we demonstrate that RAG weakly binds to functional VH genes, which is the first detailed assessment of RAG dynamic binding to VH genes. We provide a way for VH -DJH recombination in which the VH gene is brought into close proximity with the DJH recombination centre for RAG binding by a Pax5-dependent chromosomal compaction event, and held in this position for subsequent cleavage and VH -DJH joining.

Notch3 drives development and progression of cholangiocarcinoma.

The prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is dismal. Notch has been identified as a potential driver; forced exogenous overexpression of Notch1 in hepatocytes results in the formation of biliary tumors. In human disease, however, it is unknown which components of the endogenously signaling pathway are required for tumorigenesis, how these orchestrate cancer, and how they can be targeted for therapy. Here we characterize Notch in human-resected CC, a toxin-driven model in rats, and a transgenic mouse model in which p53 deletion is targeted to biliary epithelia and CC induced using the hepatocarcinogen thioacetamide. We find that across species, the atypical receptor NOTCH3 is differentially overexpressed; it is progressively up-regulated with disease development and promotes tumor cell survival via activation of PI3k-Akt. We use genetic KO studies to show that tumor growth significantly attenuates after Notch3 deletion and demonstrate signaling occurs via a noncanonical pathway independent of the mediator of classical Notch, Recombinant Signal Binding Protein for Immunoglobulin Kappa J Region (RBPJ). These data present an opportunity in this aggressive cancer to selectively target Notch, bypassing toxicities known to be RBPJ dependent.

Different spectra of recurrent gene mutations in subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia harboring stereotyped B-cell receptors.

We report on markedly different frequencies of genetic lesions within subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients carrying mutated or unmutated stereotyped B-cell receptor immunoglobulins in the largest cohort (n=565) studied for this purpose. By combining data on recurrent gene mutations (BIRC3, MYD88, NOTCH1, SF3B1 and TP53) and cytogenetic aberrations, we reveal a subset-biased acquisition of gene mutations. More specifically, the frequency of NOTCH1 mutations was found to be enriched in subsets expressing unmutated immunoglobulin genes, i.e. #1, #6, #8 and #59 (22-34%), often in association with trisomy 12, and was significantly different (P<0.001) to the frequency observed in subset #2 (4%, aggressive disease, variable somatic hypermutation status) and subset #4 (1%, indolent disease, mutated immunoglobulin genes). Interestingly, subsets harboring a high frequency of NOTCH1 mutations were found to carry few (if any) SF3B1 mutations. This starkly contrasts with subsets #2 and #3 where, despite their immunogenetic differences, SF3B1 mutations occurred in 45% and 46% of cases, respectively. In addition, mutations within TP53, whilst enriched in subset #1 (16%), were rare in subsets #2 and #8 (both 2%), despite all being clinically aggressive. All subsets were negative for MYD88 mutations, whereas BIRC3 mutations were infrequent. Collectively, this striking bias and skewed distribution of mutations and cytogenetic aberrations within specific chronic lymphocytic leukemia subsets implies that the mechanisms underlying clinical aggressiveness are not uniform, but rather support the existence of distinct genetic pathways of clonal evolution governed by a particular stereotyped B-cell receptor selecting a certain molecular lesion(s).

Analysis of celiac disease autoreactive gut plasma cells and their corresponding memory compartment in peripheral blood using high-throughput sequencing.

Autoreactive IgA plasma cells (PCs) specific for the enzyme transglutaminase 2 (TG2) are abundant in the small intestine of patients with active celiac disease (CD), and their number drops in patients treated by dietary gluten elimination. Little is known about their characteristics and their role in the disease. In this study, using high-throughput sequencing of the IgH V region (IGHV) genes, we have studied features of TG2-specific PCs and their related B cell clones in peripheral blood. We found that TG2-specific PCs from both untreated and treated patients have acquired lower number of somatic hypermutation and used focused IGHV repertoire with overrepresentation of the IGHV3-48, IGHV4-59, IGHV5-10-1, and IGHV5-51 gene segments. Furthermore, these PCs were clonally expanded and showed signs of affinity maturation. Lineage trees demonstrated shared clones between gut PCs and blood memory B cells, primarily IgAs. Some trees also involved IgG cells, suggesting that anti-TG2 IgA and IgG responses are related. Similarly to TG2-specific PCs, clonally related memory IgA B cells of blood showed lower mutation rates with biased usage of IGHV3-48 and IGHV5-51. Such memory cells were rare in peripheral blood, yet detectable in most patients assessed by production of anti-TG2 Abs in vitro following stimulation of cells from patients who had been on a long-term gluten-free diet. Thus, the Ab response to TG2 in CD, while maintaining its IGHV gene usage, is dynamically regulated in response to gluten exposure with a low degree of maintenance at both PC and memory B cell levels in patients in remission.

HTJoinSolver: Human immunoglobulin VDJ partitioning using approximate dynamic programming constrained by conserved motifs.

BACKGROUND: Partitioning the human immunoglobulin variable region into variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) segments is a common sequence analysis step. We introduce a novel approximate dynamic programming method that uses conserved immunoglobulin gene motifs to improve performance of aligning V-segments of rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) genes. Our new algorithm enhances the former JOINSOLVER algorithm by processing sequences with insertions and/or deletions (indels) and improves the efficiency for large datasets provided by high throughput sequencing. RESULTS: In our simulations, which include rearrangements with indels, the V-matching success rate improved from 61% for partial alignments of sequences with indels in the original algorithm to over 99% in the approximate algorithm. An improvement in the alignment of human VDJ rearrangements over the initial JOINSOLVER algorithm was also seen when compared to the Stanford.S22 human Ig dataset with an online VDJ partitioning software evaluation tool. CONCLUSIONS: HTJoinSolver can rapidly identify V- and J-segments with indels to high accuracy for mutated sequences when the mutation probability is around 30% and 20% respectively. The D-segment is much harder to fit even at 20% mutation probability. For all segments, the probability of correctly matching V, D, and J increases with our alignment score.

The proximal J kappa germline-transcript promoter facilitates receptor editing through control of ordered recombination.

V(D)J recombination creates antibody light chain diversity by joining a Vκ gene segment with one of four Jκ segments. Two Jκ germline-transcript (GT) promoters control Vκ-Jκ joining, but the mechanisms that govern Jκ choice are unclear. Here, we show in gene-targeted mice that the proximal GT promoter helps targeting rearrangements to Jκ1 by preventing premature DNA breaks at Jκ2. Consequently, cells lacking the proximal GT promoter show a biased utilization of downstream Jκ segments, resulting in a diminished potential for receptor editing. Surprisingly, the proximal--in contrast to the distal--GT promoter is transcriptionally inactive prior to Igκ recombination, indicating that its role in Jκ choice is independent of classical promoter function. Removal of the proximal GT promoter increases H3K4me3 levels at Jκ segments, suggesting that this promoter could act as a suppressor of recombination by limiting chromatin accessibility to RAG. Our findings identify the first cis-element critical for Jκ choice and demonstrate that ordered Igκ recombination facilitates receptor editing.

Comparative study of IgA VH 3 gene usage in healthy TST(-) and TST(+) population exposed to tuberculosis: deep sequencing analysis.

The acquired immune response against tuberculosis is commonly associated with T-cell responses with little known about the role of B cells or antibodies. There have been suggestions that B cells and humoral immunity can modulate the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the mechanisms involving B-cell responses in M. tuberculosis are not fully understood, in particular the antibody gene preferences. We hypothesized that a preferential use of V genes can be seen associated with resistance to infection mainly in the IgA isotype, which is of prominent importance for infection by pathogens via the mucosal route. We studied healthy individuals with long-term exposure to tuberculosis, infected (TST(+) ) and uninfected TST(-) ) with M. tuberculosis. From a total of 22 V genes analysed, the TST(-) population preferred the VH 3-23 and Vκ1 genes. The VH 3-23 genes were subsequently subjected to 454 amplicon sequencing. The TST(-) population showed a higher frequency of the D3-10 segment compared with the D3-22 segment for the TST(+) population. The J segment usage pattern was similar for both populations with J4 segment being used the most. A preferential pairing of J4 segments to D3-3 was seen for the TST(-) population. The antibodyome difference between both populations suggests a preference for antibodies with VH 3-23, D3-3, JH 4 gene usage by the TST(-) population that could be associated with resistance to infection with M. tuberculosis.

A major deletion in the Vκ-Jκ intervening region results in hyperelevated transcription of proximal Vκ genes and a severely restricted repertoire.

Our previous studies have shown that DNase I hypersensitive sites 1 and 2 (HS1-2) and HS3-6 within the mouse Vκ-Jκ intervening region are essential for controlling locus contraction and creating a diverse Ab repertoire. In this article, we demonstrate that a 6.3-kb deletion encompassing HS1-6 altogether not only leads to the predictable sums of these phenotypes, but also results in a novel hyperelevation of transcription of proximal Vκ genes, in both pre-B and splenic B cells. These findings reveal previously unrecognized additional functions for cis-elements within the Vκ-Jκ intervening region, namely, prevention of the production of massive levels of noncoding RNA species by silencing transcription of germline proximal Vκ genes in both developing and mature B cells.

Neuroblastoma killing properties of Vδ2 and Vδ2-negative γδT cells following expansion by artificial antigen-presenting cells.

PURPOSE: The majority of circulating human γδT lymphocytes are of the Vγ9Vδ2 lineage, and have T-cell receptor (TCR) specificity for nonpeptide phosphoantigens. Previous attempts to stimulate and expand these cells have therefore focused on stimulation using ligands of the Vγ9Vδ2 receptor, whereas relatively little is known about variant blood γδT subsets and their potential role in cancer immunotherapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: To expand the full repertoire of γδT without bias toward specific TCRs, we made use of artificial antigen-presenting cells loaded with an anti γδTCR antibody that promoted unbiased expansion of the γδT repertoire. Expanded cells from adult blood donors were sorted into 3 populations expressing respectively Vδ2 TCR chains (Vδ2(+)), Vδ1 chains (Vδ1(+)), and TCR of other δ chain subtypes (Vδ1(neg)Vδ2(neg)). RESULTS: Both freshly isolated and expanded cells showed heterogeneity of differentiation markers, with a less differentiated phenotype in the Vδ1 and Vδ1(neg)Vδ2(neg) populations. Expanded cells were largely of an effector memory phenotype, although there were higher numbers of less differentiated cells in the Vδ1(+) and Vδ1(neg)Vδ2(neg) populations. Using neuroblastoma tumor cells and the anti-GD2 therapeutic mAb ch14.18 as a model system, all three populations showed clinically relevant cytotoxicity. Although killing by expanded Vδ2 cells was predominantly antibody dependent and proportionate to upregulated CD16, Vδ1 cells killed by antibody-independent mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we have demonstrated that polyclonal-expanded populations of γδT cells are capable of both antibody-dependent and -independent effector functions in neuroblastoma.

Characterization of human αßTCR repertoire and discovery of D-D fusion in TCRß chains.

The characterization of the human T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire has made remarkable progress, with most of the work focusing on the TCRß chains. Here, we analyzed the diversity and complexity of both the TCRα and TCRß repertoires of three healthy donors. We found that the diversity of the TCRα repertoire is higher than that of the TCRß repertoire, whereas the usages of the V and J genes tended to be preferential with similar TRAV and TRAJ patterns in all three donors. The V-J pairings, like the V and J gene usages, were slightly preferential. We also found that the TRDV1 gene rearranges with the majority of TRAJ genes, suggesting that TRDV1 is a shared TRAV/DV gene (TRAV42/DV1). Moreover, we uncovered the presence of tandem TRBD (TRB D gene) usage in ~2% of the productive human TCRß CDR3 sequences.

Shared epitopes of avian immunoglobulin light chains.

Like all jawed vertebrates, birds (Aves) also produce antibodies i.e. immunoglobulins (Igs) as a defence mechanism against pathogens. Their Igs are composed of two identical heavy (H) and light (L) chains which are of lambda isotype. The L chain consists of variable (VL), joining (JL) and constant (CL) region. Using enzyme immunoassays (EIA) and two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (3C10 and CH31) to chicken L chain, we analysed their cross-reactivity with sera from 33 avian species belonging to nine different orders. Among Galliformes tested, mAbs 3C10 and CH31 reacted with L chains of chicken, turkey, four genera of pheasants, tragopan and peafowl, but not with sera of grey partridge, quail and Japanese quail. Immunoglobulins of guinea-fowl reacted only with mAb 3C10. Both mAbs reacted also with the L chain of Eurasian griffon (order Falconiformes) and domestic sparrow (order Passeriformes). Sera from six other orders of Aves did not react with either of the two mAbs. EIA using mAbs 3C10 and CH31 enabled detection of antibodies to major avian pathogens in sera of chickens, turkeys, pheasants, peafowl, Eurasian griffon and guinea-fowl (only with mAb 3C10). The N-terminal amino acid sequence of pheasant L chain (19 residues) was identical to that of chicken. Sequences of genes encoding the L chain constant regions of pheasants, turkey and partridge were determined and deposited in the public database (GenBank accession numbers: FJ 649651, FJ 649652 and FJ 649653, respectively). Among them, amino acid sequence of pheasants is the most similar to that of chicken (97% similarity), whereas those of turkey and partridge have greater similarity to each other (89%) than to any other avian L chain sequence. The characteristic deletion of two amino acids which is present in the L chain constant region in Galliformes has been most likely introduced to their L chain after their divergence from Anseriformes.

Noncore RAG1 regions promote Vß rearrangements and αß T cell development by overcoming inherent inefficiency of Vß recombination signal sequences.

The RAG proteins are comprised of core endonuclease domains and noncore regions that modulate endonuclease activity. Mutation or deletion of noncore RAG regions in humans causes immunodeficiency and altered TCR repertoire, and mice expressing core but not full-length Rag1 (Rag1(C/C)) or Rag2 (Rag2(C/C)) exhibit lymphopenia, reflecting impaired V(D)J recombination and lymphocyte development. Rag1(C/C) mice display reduced D-to-J and V-to-DJ rearrangements of TCRß and IgH loci, whereas Rag2(C/C) mice show decreased V-to-DJ rearrangements and altered Vß/VH repertoire. Because Vßs/VHs only recombine to DJ complexes, the Rag1(C/C) phenotype could reflect roles for noncore RAG1 regions in promoting recombination during only the D-to-J step or during both steps. In this study, we demonstrate that a preassembled TCRß gene, but not a preassembled DßJß complex or the prosurvival BCL2 protein, completely rescues αß T cell development in Rag1(C/C) mice. We find that Rag1(C/C) mice exhibit altered Vß utilization in Vß-to-DJß rearrangements, increased usage of 3'Jα gene segments in Vα-to-Jα rearrangements, and abnormal changes in Vß repertoire during αß TCR selection. Inefficient Vß/VH recombination signal sequences (RSSs) have been hypothesized to cause impaired V-to-DJ recombination on the background of a defective recombinase as in core-Rag mice. We show that replacement of the Vß14 RSS with a more efficient RSS increases Vß14 recombination and rescues αß T cell development in Rag1(C/C) mice. Our data indicate that noncore RAG1 regions establish a diverse TCR repertoire by overcoming Vß RSS inefficiency to promote Vß recombination and αß T cell development, and by modulating TCRß and TCRα gene segment utilization.