event
involves the
genes
of or'ly
7ne of the
homologous
chromosomes, and as a resulr
the
alleles on
the other chromzsome are
not
expressed
in
the same
cell.This
phenomenon
is called allelic
exclusion.
The occurrence of allelic
exclusion compli-
cates
the analysis
of somatic recombination.
A
probe
reacting with a
region that has rearranged
on one
homolog will also
detect the allelic
sequences
on
the other homolog. We
are there-
fore compelled
to analyze
the different
fates of
the
two chromosomes
together.
The usual
pattern
displayed
by a rearranged
active
gene
can be
interpreted in terms of
a dele-
tion
of the
material between the
recombining
V and
C loci.
Two
types of
gene
organization
are seen
in
active cells:
.
Probes to the
active
gene
may
reveal
one
rearranged copy and
one
germline
copy.
We assume, then,
that
joining
has
occurred
on one chromosome,
whereas
the
other chromosome
has
remained
unaltered.
.
TWo different
rearranged
patterns may
be
found,
indicating that the
chro-
mosomes
have suffered
independent
rearrangements.
In
some
of
these
instances,
material between
the recom-
bining
V and C
gene
segments
is entirely
absent
from the cell line.
This is most
easily
explained by
the occurrence
of
independent
deletions
(resulting
from
recombination)
on each chromosome.
When two
chromosomes
both
lack the
germline
pattern,
usually
only one of
them
has
passed
through a
productive
rearrangement
to
generate a functional
gene. The other
has
suffered
a
nonproductive
rearrangement;
this
may take several
forms,
but in each
case
the
gene
sequence cannot
be expressed
as
an
immunoglobulin
chain.
(It
may be incomplete,
for example
because
D-J
joining
has
occurred
but
V-D
joining
has not
followed; or
it may be
aberrant,
with
the
process
completed
but fail-
ing to
generate a
gene
that
codes for
a func-
tional
protein.)
The
coexistence
of
productive
and
nonpro-
ductive
rearrangements
suggests
the existence
of
a feedback
loop to control the
recombination
process. A model
is outlined
in
,
,l
:r::
'
r
Suppose
that
each cell
starts with
two loci
in
the
unrearranged
germline
configuration
Ig0.
Either
of these
loci
may be rearranged
to
gen-
erate a
productive
gene
Ig+ or a nonproductive
gene Ig-.
If the
rearrangement
is
productive, the
syn-
thesis of
an active
chain
provides a trigger
to
prevent
rearrangement
of the
other
allele.
The
active cell
has the
configuration
Ig0/lg+.
If the
rearrangement
is
nonproductive,
it
creates
a cell
with the
configuration
Ig0ttg-.
There is
no impediment
to
rearrangement
of
the
remaining
germline allele.
If this
rearrange-
ment
is
productive,
the expressing
cell
has
the
configurationlg+llg-.
Again,
the
presence
of
an
active
chain
suppresses
the
possibility of fur-
ther rearrangements.
TWo successive
nonproductive
rearrange-
ments
produce
the
cell
Ig-lIg-.In
some
cases
an
Ig-lIg-
cell can
try
yet again.
Sometimes
the
observed
patterns of
DNA
can
only
have
been
generated
by
successive
rearrangements.
The crux
of the
model
is that
the cell
keeps
trying to
recombine
V
gene segments
and
C
gene
segments
until
a
productive
rearrange-
ment is achieved.
Allelic
exclusion
is caused
by the
suppression
of
further
rearrangement
as soon as
an active
chain
is
produced.
The use
of this
mechanism
in
vivo
is demonstrated
by
the
creation
of transgenic
mice
whose
germline
has a
rearranged
immunoglobulin
gene.
i';.:,.,,'r
,, li A successful
rearrangementto
produce
an
active
light
or
heavy
chain
suppresses
further
rearrangements
of the
same
type,
and
results
jn
aLletic
exctusion.
23.9
Attetic
Exclusion
Is
Triggered
by
Productive
Rearrangement
583