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During the differentiation of B cells in bone marrow, recombination occurs in light chain and heavy chain genes to produce a single type of functional gene which determines the type of light chain and the heavy chain produced by that B cell. Therefore, a single B cell and its generation displays a single type of antigen receptor on its cell surface.

My question is- Recombination will occur in both the copies of the light chain gene present on the homologous chromosomes (same with the heavy chain gene).

So, the combination produced on the homologous chromosomes should be different. Is it really so? And if not, then how come they are identical?

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There is a mechanism in T and B cells called allelic exclusion. This means that most of the times only a single allele is used by building the light chain and the other is excluded. Incomplete allelic exclusion may contribute to auto-immune diseases, because cells using two different light chains can potentially recognize both pathogens and healthy human cells1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.

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