Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

A Simple and Efficient Approach to Construct Mutant Vaccinia Virus Vectors
Published on: October 30, 2016
Potential contribution of VH gene replacement in immunity and disease
Yanwen Liu1, Run Fan, Song Zhou
1Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, WTI378, 1824 6th Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-3300, USA.
Abstract:
VH replacement occurs through RAG-mediated recombination between a cryptic recombination signal sequence (cRSS) presented in a rearranged VH gene and a 23-bp RSS from an upstream VH gene. VH replacement renews the entire VH coding region and extends the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) CDR3 regions preferentially with charged amino acids. VH replacement occurs in bone marrow-immature B cells and contributes significantly to the primary B-cell repertoire in humans. However, the biological significance of VH replacement is not clear. Our recent studies revealed elevated frequencies of VH replacement products in different autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and Sjögren's syndrome. Moreover, elevated frequencies of VH replacement products were also found in patients with human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis C virus infections. These results provide the first clue that VH replacement contributes to autoimmune disease and antiviral immunity, and they also suggest a potential link between viral infection and autoimmune disease.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Therapy
In-vitro Mutagenesis
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Microorganisms in Medicine and Therapeutics
Diversity of Antigen Receptors
Before encountering any antigen, lymphocytes express these receptors. On B cells, the antigen receptor is a membrane-bound antibody molecule called BCR; on T cells, it is a T cell receptor or TCR. B and T cell receptors are composed of two...
Human Virome

