Insufficiency of Genomic Structure in Immunoglobulin Locus for Inducing
High-Frequency Gene Conversion in Variable Regions
Abstract
Mammals, including humans and mice, employ V(D)J recombination and
somatic hypermutation (SHM) to diversify their immunoglobulin (Ig)
variable region repertoires, while domestic poultry, such as chickens
and ducks, rely heavily on gene conversion (GCV) to achieve this
diversification. Given the differences in the arrangement of Ig gene
loci between chickens/ducks and humans/mice, we posited that the
structural arrangement of the Ig locus might play a pivotal role in
driving the pronounced frequency of GCV in poultry. To test this
hypothesis, we engineered a novel mouse model, Igλ
-/-Igκ -/-DIgL, characterized by the
incorporation of the entire duck IgL gene locus and the simultaneous
absence of the mouse endogenous IgL locus. These transgenic mice
produced chimeric antibodies comprising mouse heavy chains and duck
light chains, thereby offering partial support for B cell development.
However, when subjected to repeated immunization with a variety of
antigens, the humoral immune response in Igλ -/-Igκ
-/-DIgL mice was notably diminished compared to that
in wild-type mice. High-throughput sequencing of IgL repertoires
unveiled distinct differences between Igλ -/-Igκ
-/-DIgL mice and ducks in terms of V gene utilization
frequencies, characteristics of the CDR3 region (CDRL3), and nucleotide
additions at junctions (NP nucleotides). Despite the increased
expression of duck IgL due to the absence of endogenous mouse IgL, the
level of GCV observed in duck IgL of Igλ -/-Igκ
-/-DIgL mice (2.01%) remained significantly lower
than that in ducks (35.3%). These findings collectively indicate that
the structural configuration of the Ig locus may not be a critical
determinant of GCV and provide valuable insights into the mechanisms
underpinning the high frequency of GCV observed in poultry species.