A variety of immune parameters are modified during and after a spaceflight. The effects of spaceflights on cellular immunity are well documented; however, little is known about the effects of these flights on humoral immunity. During the Genesis space experiment, two adult Pleurodeles waltl (urodele amphibian) stayed 5 mo onboard Mir and were subjected to oral immunization. Animals were killed ...

We have determined the sequences of separate germline genetic elements which encode two parts of a mouse immunglobulin heavy chain variable region. These elements, termed gene segments, are heavy chain counterparts of the variable (V) and joining (J) gene segments of immunoglobulin light chains. The VH gene segment encodes amino acids 1-101 and the JH gene segment encodes amino acids 107-123 of...

In this study, we have mapped the 3' H chain V region (V(H)) genes and those in the H chain diversity, H chain joining, and 5' portion of the H chain constant locus. We show that swine possess only two functional H chain diversity segments and only one functional H chain joining segment. These data help to explain more than a decade of observations on the preimmune repertoire of this species an...