Immunoglobulin kappa light-chain V, J, and C gene sequences of the owl monkey Aotus nancymaae

Sequences of Aotus nancymaae immunoglobulin kappa light-chain rearrangement s were analyzed after reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Amon g 22 in-frame rearrangements analyzed, 12 IGKV genes belonging to the famil ies 1, 2, or 3 were identified. Aotus counterparts for all five human IGKJ genes were found. The identity of the deduced human and Aotus amino acid se quences was between 83% and 92% for junctional regions and 74% for the cons tant region. Sequence comparisons between rearrangements indicated that som atic mutations, the addition of non-germline-encoded nucleotides, and exonu clease trimming contribute to the generation of diversity of Aotus immunogl obulin kappa chains. The high identity of Aotus and human IGK genes is comp arable to that of T-cell receptor genes and further supports the proposal t o use the Aotus Plasmodium falciparum infection model far the evaluation of malaria vaccine candidates.