Data on the nucleotide composition of the first codons encoding the complementary determining region 3 (CDR3) in...

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Genetics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• The complementary determining region 3 (CDR3) of antibodies is crucial for antigen binding and exhibits high variability.
• This variability arises from the recombination of immunoglobulin heavy chain variable (IGHV), diversity (D), and joining (J) genes during B cell development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the nucleotide composition of codons encoding the initial residues of CDR3.
• To assess the contribution of the IGHV germline gene to CDR3 diversity and antibody specificity.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of nucleotide composition from two independent sets of antibody heavy chain-encoding transcript sequences.
• Utilized raw sequence data from allergic subjects and memory B cells, including paired heavy and light chain transcripts.
• Examined transcripts originating from 47 distinct IGHV alleles.

Main Results:

• Presented nucleotide compositions of the 5'-ends of CDR3-encoding sequences for various IGHV alleles.
• Demonstrated the extent of incorporation of 3' IGHV germline gene bases into rearranged immunoglobulin sequences.
• Assessed how IGHV gene differences affect CDR3 sequence composition and antibody specificity.

Conclusions:

• The nucleotide composition of CDR3 provides insights into IGHV gene contribution to antibody repertoire diversity.
• Understanding these sequence patterns is vital for accurate inference of IGHV gene usage and for predicting antibody specificity.