Haematologica Reports 2005; 1(issue 8): 57-59[prev][index][next]

Tumor idyotipe as target antigen for multiple myeloma
Curti A
Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology L & A Seragnoli, University of Bologna, Italy

Early during development, pre-B cells become committed to the expression of a heavy and light chain Ig variable region. The heavy chain derives from the recombination of a variable (V) with a diversity (D) and a joining (J) region genes with a constant region (C). The V-D-J joints occur with a variable number of nucleotide insertions or deletions resulting in a unique sequence which creates the third hypervariable region (CDR III) and contributes to the antigen binding site. These antigenic regions (idiotype; Id) are characteristic for any given Ig producing tumor (i.e. multiple myeloma, MM; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; NHL) and can be recognized by an immune response consisting of anti-Id antibodies and/or by Id reactive T-cells. [>Read full article in PDF]