The smaller human VH gene families display remarkably little polymorphism

We report the nucleotide sequence of 30 distinct human VH gene segments from the VHIV, VHV and VHVI gene families. When these sequences were compared to previously published sequences from these smaller human VH families a surprisingly low level of polymorphism was noted. Two VHIV gene segments from unrelated individuals were identical to two previously published VHIV sequences. Five VHV sequences were identical and seven VHVI gene segments were identical. Where differences were found between the sequences, allele specific oligonucleotide probes were used to verify the germline nature of the change and to test for segregation in several large kindreds. These data provide evidence that at least some human VH gene segments are remarkably stable.