during the period of 1984-1995, nine young patients were admitted to shiraz university hospitals with a chief complaint of abdominal mass, weight loss and chronic diarrhea. clinically, these cases were diagnosed as intestinal tuberculosis or lymphoma. laparotomy revealed a huge mass involving the upper small intestine. histologic sections showed diffuse infiltration of the intestinal wall with ...

OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN Developing an effective HIV-1 vaccine that elicits broadly neutralizing HIV-1 human antibodies (bnAbs) remains a challenging goal. Extensive studies on HIV-1 have revealed various strategies employed by the virus to escape host immune surveillance. Here, we investigated the human antibody gene repertoires of uninfected and HIV-1-infected individuals at genomic DNA (gDNA) a...

Introduction: Most B-cell malignancies are diagnosed based on morphologic and immunohistochemical criteria. Some cases, however, still present a challenge for the pathologist to discriminate between reactive hyperplasia and neoplastic disorders. Molecular techniques can be used as a helpful diagnostic tool in these cases. In this study, we assessed the value of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) t...

The study of the Ig variable region heavy chain (VH) genes used to encode antibodies specific for self-epitopes from murine hybridomas showed that three VH families are primarily utilized: VH J558, the largest family, and VH QPC52 and VH 7183, the families most proximal to the Ig joining region heavy chain genes. These monoclonal autoantibodies express cross-reactive idiotopes shared by rheumat...

Twenty-eight heavy-chain variable (VH1) region genes and the immunoglobulin (IgM) heavy-chain constant region of an isogenic Xenopus hybrid, X. laevis/X. gilli, LG7, have been sequenced. The LG7 clone represents the first Xenopus hybrid that is homozygous for the IgH locus. The VH1 family was specifically investigated because VH1 genes are used by the antibodies produced during the Xenopus anti...

VH replacement (VHR) is a type of antibody gene rearrangement in which an upstream heavy chain variable gene segment (VH) invades a pre-existing rearrangement (VDJ). In this Hypothesis and Theory article, we begin by reviewing the mechanism of VHR, its developmental timing and its potential biological consequences. Then we explore the hypothesis that specific sequence motifs called footprints r...

In an attempt to better understand the molecular basis of idiotypy, we have generated several site-specific antisera through immunization of animals with synthetic peptides corresponding to the (JH1) heavy chain joining segment 1 of the mouse heavy chain variable (VH) region. These anti-peptide sera identify several idiotypic determinants present on intact hybridoma and myeloma immunoglobulins....

We have created mouse-human antibody molecules of defined antigen-binding specificity by taking the variable region genes of a mouse antibody-producing myeloma cell line with known antigen-binding specificity and joining them to human immunoglobulin constant region genes using recombinant DNA techniques. Chimeric genes were constructed that utilized the rearranged and expressed antigen-binding ...