Abstract
B lymphocytes produce diverse antibody specificities by "randomly" assembling antibody genes from germline segments. Yet, though each B lymphocyte has multiple allelic loci for the different antibody chains, each clonally derived mature B lymphocyte expresses a single species of antibody with a unique specificity via a process termed allelic exclusion. Despite some progress, the precise mechanism of allelic exclusion remains an enigma.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
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Review
MeSH terms
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Alleles*
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Animals
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Antibodies / genetics
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Antibodies / immunology*
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Antibody Specificity / genetics*
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Antibody Specificity / immunology*
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B-Lymphocytes / immunology*
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Gene Expression Regulation / genetics
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Genes, Regulator / genetics
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Humans
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Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / biosynthesis
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Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / genetics
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains / biosynthesis
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains / genetics
Substances
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Antibodies
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Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains