Chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells can undergo somatic hypermutation and intraclonal immunoglobulin V(H)DJ(H) gene diversification.

ABSTRACT: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) arises from the clonal expansion of a CD5(+) B lymphocyte that is thought not to undergo intraclonal diversification. Using V(H)DJ(H) cDNA single strand conformation polymorphism analyses, we detected intraclonal mobility variants in 11 of 18 CLL cases. cDNA sequence analyses indicated that these variants represented unique point-mutations (1-35/patient). In nine cases, these mutations were unique to individual submembers of the CLL clone, although in two cases they occurred in a large percentage of the clonal submembers and genealogical trees could be identified. The diversification process responsible for these changes led to single nucleotide changes that favored transitions over transversions, but did not target A nucleotides and did not have the repl

SUBMITTER: Gurrieri C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2194006 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature