Gene conversion-like sequence transfers in a mouse antibody transgene: antigen selection allows sensitive detection of V region interactions based on homology.

Gene conversion is important for antibody diversification in chickens, rabbits and cows. In mice, however, conversion events appear to be infrequent among endogenous antibody genes. DNA sequence transfer events that resemble gene conversions have been reported for a mouse H chain transgene (VVC(mu)) that contains two closely spaced homologous VDJ segments. Surprisingly, these reported VVC(mu) sequence transfers were found frequently among mouse B cells responding to immunization. Transgene sequence transfers could be occurring at high frequency in responding VVC(mu) B cells or could be occurring at lower frequency with subsequent amplification by preferential antigen selection. To distinguish these possibilities, we have analyzed a second transgene (InVVC(mu)) that is identical to VVC(mu) except that the two VDJ regions have been exchanged in position. We find that transgene sequence transfers are much less frequent among responding B cells in InVVC(mu) mice, demonstrating the importance of selection in the frequent transgene conversions observed in VVC(mu) mice. These results suggest that mice, like other species, can use gene conversion to diversify antibodies. Such diversification events are apparently infrequent, however, and might only be detected among endogenous Ig genes with a favorable arrangement of V genes and an antigenic stimulation that selects cells with conversions. For both VVC(mu) and InVVC(mu) mice, conversion-like sequence transfers are strongly correlated with somatic hypermutation. Based on these results, we hypothesize that, in mice, gene conversions represent infrequent alternative reactions of a homology-based DNA repair process that is central in the somatic hypermutational mechanism.