MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF HUMAN-IMMUNOGLOBULIN V-LAMBDA GERMLINE GENES - SUBGROUPS V-LAMBDA-III AND V-LAMBDA-IV

Three human immunoglobulin Vlambda germline genes have been isolated: two from the VlambdaIV subgroup and one from the VlambdaIII subgroup. The VlambdaIII gene and one of the VlambdaIV genes appear to be functional (each being utilized in at least two expressed V lambda genes), despite deviations from the reported consensus sequences in their promoter TATA-box and recombination signal sequence elements. The other VlambdaIV gene is a pseudogene. Of the 20 human Vlambda germline genes characterized to date, 45 % are pseudogenes or vestigial genes.