Click here to close Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly. We suggest using a current version of Chrome, FireFox, or Safari.
XB-ART-36525
Eur J Immunol 2007 Oct 01;3710:2683-94. doi: 10.1002/eji.200737263.
Show Gene links Show Anatomy links

Four primordial immunoglobulin light chain isotypes, including lambda and kappa, identified in the most primitive living jawed vertebrates.

Criscitiello MF , Flajnik MF .


???displayArticle.abstract???
The discovery of a fourth immunoglobulin (Ig) light (L) chain isotype in sharks has revealed the origins and natural history of all vertebrate L chains. Phylogenetic comparisons have established orthology between this new shark L chain and the unique Xenopus L chain isotype sigma. More importantly, inclusion of this new L chain family in phylogenetic analyses showed that all vertebrate L chains can be categorized into four ancestral clans originating prior to the emergence of cartilaginous fish: one restricted to elasmobranchs (sigma-cart/type I), one found in all cold-blooded vertebrates (sigma/teleost type 2/elasmobranch type IV), one in all groups except bony fish (lambda/elasmobranch type II), and one in all groups except birds (kappa/elasmobranch type III/teleost type 1 and 3). All four of these primordial L chain isotypes (sigma, sigma-cart, lambda and kappa) have maintained separate V region identities since their emergence at least 450 million years ago, suggestive of an ancient physiological distinction of the L chains. We suggest that, based upon unique, discrete sizes of complementarity determining regions 1 and 2 and other features of the V region sequences, the different L chain isotypes arose to provide different functional conformations in the Ig binding site when they pair with heavy chains.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 17899545
???displayArticle.pmcLink??? PMC7094790
???displayArticle.link??? Eur J Immunol
???displayArticle.grants??? [+]

Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: cartpt

References [+] :
Barré, Structural conservation of hypervariable regions in immunoglobulins evolution. 1994, Pubmed