Exam 2 Flashcards
What is the solution that explains antibody diversity?
genes for both chains come from multiple discontinuous genetic segments
How many constant regions does a kappa chain gene have?
1
Describe the differences of the J and C region between kappa and lambda chain genes
- kappa: one C region with J regions grouped separately
- lambda: J and C are grouped together; before every C region there is a J region
What cells express these chain genes and can they express both kappa and lambda at the same time?
- B cells
- express one or the other; once one is expressed, the other will be permanently silenced
- this gives 300 possible variable regions and 5 different isotypes (4 from lambda, 1 from kappa)
Which chromosome are kappa chain genes located?
chromosome 2
Which chromosome are lambda chain genes located?
chromosome 22
Which chromosome are heavy chain genes located?
chromosome 14
How many constant region does a lambda chain gene have?
4-5
How many constant region does a heavy chain gene have?
9
Where can VDJ recombinase be found?
only in B cell and T cell
What does VDJ recombinase do in B cells?
rearrangement of Ig genes
What does VDJ recombinase do in T cells?
rearrangement of T cell receptor
How does VDJ recombinase change the genome?
2 RAG subunits on the linear chain come together to form a loop which gets budded off; I remember RAG as Re Arrange Genome (not sure what it really stands for)
IgM producing cells
produce both IgM and IgD; this happens via how they process RNA transcript viav alternate splicing
Stages of B cell development
- Stem cell
- Early pro-B cell
- Late pro-B cell
- Large pre-B cell
- Small pre-B cell
- Immature B cell
- Mature B cell
What happens in the bone marrow after B cell generation before those B cells are activated?
the B cells that are self-reactive are eliminated
What happens during pro-B cell phase?
heavy chain starts to assemble; light chain is still in the germline
What happens during pre-B cell phase?
heavy chain is rearranged; light chain starts to rearrange but not expressed yet; surrogate light chain serves as quality control to make sure that the heavy chain that has been expressed is not useless
What happens during immature B cell phase?
both heavy and light chain are rearranged; will express lambda or kappa but not both; have mature antibody appear on the surface
What happens during mature B cell phase?
IgD and IgM antibody both appear on the surface
Define antibody
protein produced in response to an immunogen; specifically binds to immunogen that stimulated its formation
composition of immunoglobulin
- two identical heavy chains (H)
- two identical light chains (L)
What are examples of secondary activities of Ig?
- activation of complement
- opsonization
- transport across placental barrier into fetal circulation
- secreted in external secretions of the body
Where are the N-termini and C-termini region on the antibody?
- N-termini are located on the antigen binding region
- C-termini are at the C region of the heavy chain where Fc receptors are