Translation of human immunoglobulin heavy chain mRNA in vitro

MOUSE immunoglobulin (Ig) mRNAs have been the subject of intensive study. Purification of Ig light chain mRNAs from myeloma or plasmacytoma cells has been monitored by translation in vitro , and studies have been directed towards sequence determination and gene titration Moreover, partial purification of Ig heavy chain mRNA has also been achieved 1–5 . No comparable work on the Ig mRNA of any other species has yet been published. We report here the preparation, fractionation and translation in vitro of mRNA from cells of a cloned normal human B lymphocytic cell line. RPMI 1788 (ref. 6). grown in tissue culture. Human Ig μ chains were identified in the translation product by specific immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-urea polyacrylamide gels.