Unraveling the Consecutive Recombination Events in the Human IGK Locus

FIGURE 1.

Schematic overview of classical rearrangements in the human IGK locus. IGK recombination mostly starts with a Vκ-Jκ
rearrangement. The functionality of this rearrangement can be disrupted by rearrangement of the Kde.

Recombination of Kde to an isolated heptamer in the intron between the Jκ and Cκ segments (intron-Kde rearrangement) results in
deletion of the Cκ region, whereas recombination between Kde and a Vκ gene segment deletes the entire (Vκ)Jκ-Cκ region.

Both types of Kde rearrangements also result in deletion of the IGK enhancers (iEκ and 3′Eκ), probably precluding further
rearrangements in the human IGK locus.