Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Combined Immunofluorescence and DNA FISH on 3D-preserved Interphase Nuclei to Study Changes in 3D Nuclear Organization
Published on: February 3, 2013
Rearrangement of IgH genes in normal thymocyte development
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Denver, CO 80206.
Abstract:
IgH chain gene segments are rearranged in 30 to 50% of peripheral T cells. We have analyzed IgH gene rearrangements during normal T cell development, using a well characterized collection of hybridomas derived from fetal, newborn, adult, or aged thymocytes. Our results show that IgH rearrangements occur in the thymus after T cell receptor gene and T cell specific gamma-gene rearrangements but before thymocyte maturation is completed. Therefore IgH gene rearrangements occur at an intermediate stage in thymocyte development. This may be of significance in delineating human lymphoid leukemias. Not all thymocyte hybridomas carried IgH gene rearrangements. Age-related shifts in frequencies of cells with IgH gene rearrangements, probably indicating changes in the composition of thymocyte populations, were found. Finally, a detailed analysis of D to J joins revealed an ordered progression of partial rearrangements at the IgH locus, whereby the most proximal DH-segment, DQ52, is used predominantly at early stages, but that other D to J rearrangements at the same locus may occur subsequently.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Hedgehog Signaling Pathway
Transcytosis of IgG
IgG molecules from a mother undergo transcytosis starting around 13 weeks of gestation. The amount of IgG transferred and entering the fetal blood circulation increases with...
TGF - β Signaling Pathway
Primary Lymphoid Organs
The red bone marrow is a soft, spongy tissue nestled in the interior of long bones such as the humerus and femur. It is the site...
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...

