Immunoglobulin Heavy (IgH)

Immunoglobulin heavy locus, also known as IGH@, is a region on human chromosome 14 that contains a gene for the heavy chains of human antibodies (or immunoglobulins). Immunoglobulins recognize foreign antigens and initiate immune responses such as phagocytosis and the complement system. Each immunoglobulin molecule consists of two identical heavy chains and two identical light chains. This region represents the germline organization of the heavy chain locus. The locus includes V (variable), D (diversity), J (joining), and C (constant) segments. During B cell development, a recombination event at the DNA level joins a single D segment with a J segment; this partially rearranged D-J gene is then joined to a V segment. The rearranged V-D-J is then transcribed with the IGHM constant region; this transcript encodes a mu heavy chain.