ANALYSIS OF THE V(H)3 REPERTOIRE AMONG GENETICALLY DISPARATE INDIVIDUALS

It has been shown that a conserved but highly biased subset of the ger mline V-H complement is utilized in the peripheral V-H repertoire of C aucasians. To distinguish between V-H-autonomous effects and backgroun d genetic effects, we have now assessed the incidence of rearrangement of eight V(H)3 gene segments in preimmune CD19+IgD+ B cells from gene tically disparate subjects of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Results indi cate that the set of gene segments utilized for rearrangements by thes e subjects is similar, and predominantly reflects the bias previously observed in Caucasians. The preimmune repertoire of each subject is do minated by two or three gene segments, with a predominant expression o f V3-23 in all the subjects. Variation in the use of individual gene s egments, including V3-23, was observed among the subjects. These resul ts indicate that the processes that favor the preferential use of part icular genes is largely independent of genes outside the V-H locus. Th e minor variation in utilization of V-H segments, however, is probably influenced by the genetic background of the individual.