Immunoglobulin variable region exons are assembled from discontinuous variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) segments by the process of V(D)J recombination. V(D)J rearrangements of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus are tightly controlled in a tissue-specific, ordered and allele-specific manner by regulating accessibility of V, D, and J segments to the recombination activating gen...

Background One of the most important cause of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is hemolysis including Rh incompatibility.  The aim of this study was to assess the rate of hyperbilirubinemia due to hemolysis in Rh positive neonates  born to Rh negative mothers. Methods In this retrospective study from March 1998 to February 2003, 60 icteric Rh positive newborns that were born to Rh negative m...

A patient with massive proteinuria was discovered to have double light-chain disease. Immunological studies demonstrated monoclonal light chains of both the lambda and kappa type in urine. The light chains were separate and distinct and were not found to be a part of any of the whole molecule immunoglobulins such as IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, or IgE. Uniqueness of the proteins was confirmed by column ...

The gene for protein D, a membrane-associated protein with specific affinity for human immunoglobulin D, was cloned from a nontypeable strain of Haemophilus influenzae. The gene was expressed in Escherichia coli from an endogenous promoter, and the gene product has an apparent molecular weight equal to that of H. influenzae protein D (42,000). The complete nucleotide sequence of the gene for pr...

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The implementation of a program on routine antenatal anti-D prophylaxis (RAADP) in the developed world has led to a significant decline in the residual numbers of Rhesus negative women becoming sensitized. However, a significant number of Rhesus D negative women in SSA are not fortunate because of lack of access to prophylactic immunoglobulin D and thus they continue to be affected. The managem...

This enzyme immunoassay for specific measurement of secretory immunoglobulin A concentrations in human serum involves use of a small chromatographic column as a solid-phase. Serum samples are incubated for 2 h with beta-D-galactosidase-labeled antibody to secretory component, then passed through a 0.1-mL Sepharose 4B column containing antibodies to human immunoglobulin A. After the column is wa...

Recent discoveries of IgD in ancient vertebrates suggest that IgD has been preserved in evolution from fish to human for important immunological functions. A non-canonical form of class switching from IgM to IgD occurs in the human upper respiratory mucosa to generate IgD-secreting B cells that bind respiratory bacteria and their products. In addition to enhancing mucosal immunity, IgD class-sw...