IMMUNOGLOBULIN LIGHT CHAIN TRANSCRIPTS WITH ALTERED V-REGIONS IN BURKITTS-LYMPHOMA CELL-LINES PRODUCING SHORT MU-CHAINS

The Burkitt lymphoma cell lines Ly91, Ly47 and Ly66 produce short μ chains in the absence of associated light (L) chains. μ mRNA lack two‐thirds of the variable (V) region due to an alternate splicing event that takes place within V genes. L chain genes were found to be rearranged in these lines and to lead to transcripts with altered V regions. Although these abnormal transcripts displayed specific abnormalities in each cell line, they shared some features, including large deletions involving the V‐J junction. In one cell line, L chain transcripts made up of either VxI subgroup gene Jx3 or VxIV gene‐Jx4 recombination products bore a similar alteration: the donor splice site of the rearranged Jx segment was modified, leading to the alternate use of the donor site of either the leader peptide exon or the next 3′ unrearranged Jx segment. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA