Immunoglobulin heavy diversity 5-5 gene segment (IGHD5-5)

Immunoglobulin heavy diversity 5-5 (IGHD5-5) is one of several "diversity" (D) gene segments within the human immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) locus located on chromosome 14q32[1]. During B-cell development, IGHD segments—including IGHD5-5—are selected and recombined, along with variable (V) and joining (J) segments, to assemble the variable region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain. This process, called V(D)J recombination, is crucial for generating the diverse repertoire of antibodies necessary for immune defense[2]. IGHD segments do not encode proteins themselves but act as DNA templates contributing diversity to the third hypervariable region (CDR3) of the antibody antigen-binding site. There are multiple IGHD gene segments, and disruptions or polymorphisms in these segments can influence immune repertoire diversity but are not typically direct disease targets.

Other names

IGHD55DK4IGHD5-5