VH3-family genes are predominately used in gene transcripts of
allergic donors
The variable region of the heavy chain gene transcript consists of
recombined V, D and J genes. The V gene accounts for most nucleotides of
the variable region and contributes, besides D and J genes, to the CDR3
region. Hence, heavy chain V gene lineage can greatly affect B-cell
receptor specificity and affinity. In line with B-cell repertoires
described in literature26, VH3-family genes were
observed to dominate across all groups, with a shift to higher
proportions (89%, mainly IGHV3-30, VH3-23 and VH3-72) in allergic
donors (X2 (2, n =183)=23.67, p< .0001). This significant difference was still present upon
neglecting redundant sequences from the same donor, excluding a bias by
proliferation of a certain 2S albumin-binding B-cells. In turn, IGHV4
genes accounted for a larger part of incorporated VH-genes in tolerant
(21%) donors than in allergic ones (7%) (Table 2). Overall, VH-family
gene usage differs between allergic and tolerant patients sensitized to
Ara h2/6, supporting the hypothesis of differences in allergen specific
antibody repertoires between allergic and tolerant patients.