Figure 3

Antibody heavy-chain gene rearrangement, transcription, and translation. In step 1, any V segment (in this case, V2) rearranges to any D segment (in this case, D1). In step 2, the VD segment rearranges to one of the six J segments (in this case, J5). Primary RNA transcripts extend from the rearranged VDJ segments through to the Cδ gene (step 3). Finally, RNA processing results in the incorporation of either Cμ or Cδ by the transcripts, encoding for an IgM or IgD antibody, respectively.