Cloning of a human immunoglobulin gene fragment containing both VH‐D and D‐JH rearrangements: Implication for VH‐D as an intermediate to VH‐D‐JH formation

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Abstract
In an Epstein‐Barr virus‐transformed human B cell line we found an unusual immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement. Restriction mapping and sequencing analysis led us to conclude that VH‐D and D‐JH recombination took place in a single allele. Both VH‐D and D‐JH complexes still had their recombination signal sequences adjacent and the DNA sandwiched by these two complexes retained a germ line configuration, suggesting the potential for a secondary rearrangement resulting in a VH‐D(‐D)‐JH formation. With this finding, we propose a novel pathway, in which the VH‐D complex is an intermediate in the formation of a functional VH exon.