Assembly and expression of shark Ig genes1
Sharks are modern descendants of the earliest vertebrates possessing Ig superfamily receptor-based adaptive immunity. They respond to immunogen with antibodies which, upon boosting, appear more rapidly and show affinity maturation. Specific antibodies and immunological memory imply that antibody div...
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| Published in: | The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 196; no. 9; pp. 3517 - 3523 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
01-05-2016
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Sharks are modern descendants of the earliest vertebrates possessing Ig superfamily receptor-based adaptive immunity. They respond to immunogen with antibodies which, upon boosting, appear more rapidly and show affinity maturation. Specific antibodies and immunological memory imply that antibody diversification and clonal selection exist in cartilaginous fish. Shark antigen receptors are generated through V(D)J recombination, and since it is a mechanism known to generate autoreactive receptors, this implies that shark lymphocytes undergo selection. In mouse, the ~2.8 Mb IgH and IgL loci require long-range, differential activation of component parts for V(D)J recombination, allelic exclusion, and receptor editing. These processes, including class switching, evolved with and appear inseparable from the complex locus organization. In contrast, shark Ig are encoded by 100–200 autonomously rearranging miniloci. This review describes how the shark primary antibody repertoire is generated in the absence of structural features considered essential in mammalian Ig gene assembly and expression. |
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| ISSN: | 0022-1767 1550-6606 |
| DOI: | 10.4049/jimmunol.1600164 |