@article{Simone Ferrero_Daniela Capello_Mirija Svaldi_Michela Boi_Daniela Gatti_Daniela Drandi_Davide Rossi_Sara Barbiero_Barbara Mantoan_Elisabetta Mantella_Manuela Zanni_Paola Ghione_Alessandra Larocca_Roberto Passera_Francesco Bertoni_Valter Gattei_Francesco Forconi_Luca Laurenti_Giovanni Del Poeta_Roberto Marasca_Sergio Cortelazzo_Gianluca Gaidano_Antonio Palumbo_Mario Boccadoro_Marco Ladetto_2012, place={Pavia, Italy}, title={Multiple myeloma shows no intra-disease clustering of immunoglobulin heavy chain genes}, volume={97}, url={https://haematologica.org/article/view/6322}, DOI={10.3324/haematol.2011.052852}, abstractNote={<strong>Background</strong> Characterization of the immunoglobulin gene repertoire has improved our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of lymphoid tumors. Early B-lymphocyte precursors of multiple myeloma are known to exist and might be susceptible to antigenic drive.<strong>Design and Methods</strong> To verify this hypothesis, we collected a database of 345 fully readable multiple myeloma immunoglobulin sequences. We characterized the immunoglobulin repertoire, analyzed the somatic hypermutation load, and investigated for stereotyped receptor clusters.<strong>Results</strong> Compared to the normal immunoglobulin repertoire, multiple myeloma displayed only modest differences involving only a few genes, showing that the myeloma immunoglobulin repertoire is the least skewed among mature B-cell tumors. Median somatic hypermutation load was 7.8%; median length of complementarity determining-region 3 was 15.5 amino acids. Clustering analysis showed the absence of myeloma specific clusters and no similarity with published chronic lymphocytic leukemia or lymphoma subsets.<strong>Conclusions</strong&gt; Analysis of multiple myeloma immunoglobulin repertoire does not support a pathogenetic role for antigen selection in this tumor.}, number={6}, journal={Haematologica}, author={Simone Ferrero and Daniela Capello and Mirija Svaldi and Michela Boi and Daniela Gatti and Daniela Drandi and Davide Rossi and Sara Barbiero and Barbara Mantoan and Elisabetta Mantella and Manuela Zanni and Paola Ghione and Alessandra Larocca and Roberto Passera and Francesco Bertoni and Valter Gattei and Francesco Forconi and Luca Laurenti and Giovanni Del Poeta and Roberto Marasca and Sergio Cortelazzo and Gianluca Gaidano and Antonio Palumbo and Mario Boccadoro and Marco Ladetto}, year={2012}, month={Jun.}, pages={849-853} }