Structure and expression of a human subgroup II immunoglobulin kappa gene.

We have determined the entire nucleotide sequence of an active immunoglobulin V kappa gene of the human subgroup II. Comparison of the main coding sequence of this gene to another member of this subgroup reveals germline sequence differences that occur not only in complementarity determining regions but also in framework regions. We find that at least two regions commonly associated with active immunoglobulin genes--the TATAA box and the decanucleotide TGATT-TCAT--are represented in this gene. The gene was expressed by permanent and transient DNA-mediated transfection in various cell lines. We have determined the precise site of transcriptional initiation using S1 analysis of gene transcripts and show that this site is the same in the transfected cell lines and in the cell line from which the gene was isolated.