Preferential rearrangement of the immunoglobulin kappa chain joining region J kappa 1 and J kappa 2 segments in mouse spleen DNA.

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Abstract
The V.kappa.-KpnI family, which constitutes .apprxeq. 36% of mouse .kappa. chain variable region gene (V.kappa.) segments, conserves the Kpn I site (G-G-T-A-C-C) at the position corresponding to residues 35-37. Using this cleavage site, we were able to assess the relative recombination frequency of the .kappa. chain joining region gene (J.kappa.) segments in mouse spleen DNA. The J.kappa.1 and J.kappa.2 segments were used 2- to 5-fold more frequently than were the J.kappa.4 and J.kappa.5 segments. The J.kappa.3 segment was shown to be incapable of recombining with the V.kappa. segment. The relative recombination frequency of the J.kappa. segments did not change significantly by lipopolysaccharide stimulation of normal mouse spleens. The relative frequency of the J.kappa. usage was unaltered in immune disorders such as in nude (nu/nu), MRL (lpr/lpr), and BXSB mice. Seven V.kappa.-KpnI-J.kappa.1 clones were isolated, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. Two of them were derived from the identical germ-line V.kappa. segment but differed in the nucleotide sequence of the V-J junction. The maximal number of V.kappa. germ-line segments was estimated to be < 300 by statistical calculation.