Novel chromosome translocation caused by fusion of immunoglobulin heavy and light chain V genes in a human B lymphoblastoid cell line

The chromosome breakpoints of a translocation, t(2;14), from an Epstein-Barr virus-transformed human B lymphoblastoid cell line were isolated and analyzed. This unusual translocation arose as a result of the fusion of two immunoglobulin (Ig) variable (V) genes, one from the heavy chain cluster on chromosome 14, the other from the light chain (k) cluster on chromosome 2. The chromosome breaks occurred within the coding sequence of each gene, and there was no obvious evidence for lymphoid V(D)J recombinase involvement in the translocation. This suggests that breakage and rejoining of the involved V genes occurred by some process other than that which normally rearranges Ig genes.