EXPRESSION OF MEMBERS OF THE IMMUNOGLOBULIN-V(H)3 GENE FAMILIES IS NOT RESTRICTED AT THE LEVEL OF INDIVIDUAL GENES IN HUMAN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA

Previous studies on the repertoire of Ig V(H) genes utilized in the malignant cells of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have suggested a non-random expression pattern. In particular, individual genes from the V(H)1, V(H)5, and V(H)6 gene families have been frequently found in CLL. With regard to other V(H) gene families, including the large V(H)3 family which is expressed in > 50% of CLL cases, it is unknown whether CLL cells utilize either a broad or a restricted repertoire of V(H) genes. In the present paper, we analyzed the V(H) genes expressed in a collection of 11 CLL cases. The results of these experiments demonstrate that there is no apparent restriction in the usage of individual members of the V(H)3 gene families in CLL.