Aberrant immunoglobulin gene rearrangement in scid mouse bone marrow cells.

We have analyzed Ig gene rearrangement in the immunodeficient mutant mouse, CB-17 scid. Bone marrow stem cells from scid mice were cultured in the in vitro culture system of Whitlock and Witte. Ig gene rearrangement in the scid cells was studied by DNA cloning. Seven DNA clones of Ig H chain JH and DH regions were analyzed by DNA sequencing, and all the clones contained a failure in D-J joining. In the rearranged structure, both DH and JH coding sequences are either partly or completely deleted. Molecular mechanisms causing the aberrant DNA rearrangement are discussed.