Ferrata Storti Foundation, Haematologica
DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2015.139626
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Subsets of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, splenic marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (MZBCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been identified that express near-identical B-cell receptors (BCRs), strongly suggesting selection by restricted antigenic epitopes. We here report a new IGV mutated stereotypic IGHV4-59/IGHJ5-encoded BCR subset, expressed in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related B-cell lymphoma, MALT lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We demonstrate that these mutated stereotypic IGHV4-59/IGHJ5 BCRs are high affinity monoreactive rheumatoid factors (RFs) underscoring the significance of IgG as a major auto-antigen in the pathogenesis of several types of B-cell lymphoma.