Immunoglobulin class switch recombination in CLL

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BlankImmunoglobulin class switch recombination in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

MC Lanasa and JB Weinberg

Leuk Lymphoma, July 1, 2011; 52(7): 1398-400.

Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

During B lymphocyte maturation, a subset of B cells undergo class switch

recombination (CSR), a process wherein the heavy chain constant region is

changed to a different immunoglobulin isotype without introduction of variable

region mutations. CSR thus allows for the production of various antibody

isotypes with different effector functions. Similar to naive B cells, chronic

lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells co-express surface immunoglobulin (Ig) M and D

(IgM+IgD+), though a minority of cases express terminally differentiated

isotypes. In this brief report, we discuss the capacity of CLL to undergo CSR

and the relevance of CSR to the clinical behavior of CLL.

PMID: 21699386