Variable region gene use was also assessed in the cell lines: while 4 out of 7 endemic BL cell lines use VH genes that belong to the VH3 gene family, no clear bias in the expression of particular VH or VL gene families among this sampling of BL lines was found.
The Kim4.6 antibody leader and VH segments were identical in nucleotide sequence with the VH1.9III germ-line VH3 gene, and the Kim4.6VL segment showed 98% nucleotide sequence identity with a V lambda I subgroup gene expressed in a Burkitt's lymphoma.