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. 1991 Feb;83(2):262–266. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1991.tb05625.x

Individual germinal centres of myasthenia gravis human thymuses contain polyclonal activated B cells that express all the Vh and Vk families.

V Guigou 1, D Emilie 1, S Berrih-Aknin 1, F Fumoux 1, M Fougereau 1, C Schiff 1
PMCID: PMC1535265  PMID: 1899630

Abstract

Using in situ hybridization, we analysed the immunoglobulin repertoire expressed by the B cells present in myasthenia gravis thymuses from four patients. B cells, mostly in activated state, were clustered in germinal centres, in which multiple isotypes were identified. A majority of cells expressed IgG as compared with IgM, with a roughly similar contribution of kappa and lambda chains. Hybridization with the six VH and the 4 VK human family probes was observed in serial sections, providing additional evidence that individual germinal centres were polyclonal. The thymic B cell repertoire closely reflected the VH and the VK family usage of normal peripheral blood lymphocytes with the preferential utilization of VH3, VK1 and VK3.

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Selected References

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