Preferential rearrangement of the immunoglobulin kappa chain joining region J kappa 1 and J kappa 2 segments in mouse spleen DNA.

The V kappa-KpnI family, which constitutes approximately equal to 36% of mouse kappa chain variable region gene (V kappa) segments, conserves the Kpn I site (G-G-T-A-C-C) at the position corresponding to residues 35-37. Using this cleavage site, we were able to assess the relative recombination frequency of the kappa chain joining region gene (J kappa) segments in mouse spleen DNA. The J kappa 1 and J kappa 2 segments were used 2- to 5-fold more frequently than were the J kappa 4 and J kappa 5 segments. The J kappa 3 segment was shown to be incapable of recombining with the V kappa segment. The relative recombination frequency of the J kappa segments did not change significantly by lipopolysaccharide stimulation of normal mouse spleens. The relative frequency of the J kappa usage was unaltered in immune disorders such as in nude (nu/nu), MRL (lpr/lpr), and BXSB mice. Seven V kappa-KpnI-J kappa 1 clones were isolated, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. Two of them were derived from the identical germ-line V kappa segment but differed in the nucleotide sequence of the V-J junction. The maximal number of V kappa germ-line segments was estimated to be less than 300 by statistical calculation.