Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.molimm.2019.05.008
Title (Primary) Sequencing of VDJ genes in Lepus americanus confirms a correlation between VHn expression and the leporid species continent of origin
Author Pinheiro, A.; de Sousa-Pereira, P.; Almeida, T.; Ferreira, C.C.; Otis, T.; Boudreau, M.R.; Seguin, J.L.; Lanning, D.K.; Esteves, P.J.
Source Titel Molecular Immunology
Year 2019
Department NSF
Volume 112
Page From 182
Page To 187
Language englisch
Keywords Leporids; Lepus americanus; IGHV; Adaptive selection
Abstract Leporid VH genes used in the generation of their primary antibody repertoire exhibit highly divergent lineages. For the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) four VHa lineages have been described, the a1, a2, a3 and a4. Hares (Lepus spp.) and cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) express one VHa lineage each, the a2L and the a5, respectively, along with a more ancient lineage, the Lepus spp. sL and S. floridanus sS. Both the European rabbit and the Lepus europaeus use a third lineage, VHn, in a low proportion of their VDJ rearrangements. The VHn genes are a conserved ancestral polymorphism that is being maintained in the leporid genome.Their usage in a low proportion of VDJ rearrangements by both European rabbit and L. europaeus but not S. floridanus has been argued to be a remnant of an ancient European leporid immunologic response to pathogens. To address this hypothesis, in this study we sequenced VDJ rearranged genes for another North American leporid, L. americanus. Our results show that L. americanus expressed these genes less frequently and in a highly modified fashion compared to the European Lepus species. Our results suggest that the American leporid species use a different VH repertoire than the European species which may be related with an immune adaptation to different environmental conditions, such as different pathogenic agents.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=22052
Pinheiro, A., de Sousa-Pereira, P., Almeida, T., Ferreira, C.C., Otis, T., Boudreau, M.R., Seguin, J.L., Lanning, D.K., Esteves, P.J. (2019):
Sequencing of VDJ genes in Lepus americanus confirms a correlation between VHn expression and the leporid species continent of origin
Mol. Immunol. 112 , 182 - 187 10.1016/j.molimm.2019.05.008