The CDR1 sequences of a major proportion of human germline Ig VH genes are inherently susceptible to amino acid replacement.

The variable (V) genes of antigen-selected antibodies are known to exhibit a higher frequency of amino acid replacement mutations in the sequences encoding the antigen-contacting complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) than in those encoding the 'structural' framework regions (FRs). Here, Bernard Chang and Paolo Casali analyse the impact of regional differences in the codon composition of human germline Ig VH and VL genes on regional differences in the frequency of replacement mutations in the gene products (i.e. the antigen-binding sites of antibody molecules). This analysis reveals that CDR and FR sequences can differ significantly in their inherent susceptibility to amino acid replacement given any single nucleotide change. Thus, the CDR sequences of all the Ig VH genes analysed comprise a higher frequency of codons susceptible to replacement mutations than would be expected for a random sequence. Conversely, the FR sequences comprise codons less susceptible to replacement mutations than expected. Random accumulation of nucleotide changes throughout the coding sequence of an Ig V-gene segment containing CDRs inherently more prone to replacement mutations than the respective FRs would inevitably yield a higher rate of amino acid replacements in the CDRs than in the FRs. This would provide a fertile structural substrate of hypervariability for antigen selection while still maintaining the structural integrity of the FRs.