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V H gene family repertoires of “viable motheaten” (me v ) mice
Author(s) -
Freitas Antonio A.,
Sidman Charles L.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
european journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1521-4141
pISSN - 0014-2980
DOI - 10.1002/eji.1830200513
Subject(s) - biology , repertoire , gene , mutant , spleen , autoantibody , antibody , balb/c , gene family , genetics , mutation , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , gene expression , immune system , physics , acoustics
Abstract Mutant viable motheaten ( me v ) mice provide an useful experimental model to study the origin and molecular properties of autoantibodies. In the present investigation we have compared by in situ hybridization V H gene family usage in lipopolysaccharide‐activated B cells (available repertoire) and spontaneously immunoglobulin‐secreting (actual repertoire) B cells in the spleen of 6—8‐week‐old BALB/c and mutant BALB/c‐ me v mice. We have found that while sharing identical available splenic repertoires and expressing a diversified set of V H families, me v mice differ from control BALB/c animals in V H family representation in the actual plasma cell repertoires where they showed a decreased utilization of V H 7183 genes and an increased representation of the V H J606 family when compared to control BALB/c animals. These results indicate that selection of actual repertoires may indeed differ between autoimmuneand control mice, but do not establish whether such changes are the primary cause of the disease or whether they are secondary to the initiating of the autoimmune process.