Abstract
Genetic variation in the loci encoding immunoglobulin genes (IGH, IGK and IGL) affects the repertoire of B-cell receptors (BCRs). Such effects were previously demonstrated for total peripheral blood B cells, but so far have not been investigated at scale for isolated naïve B cells. As B cells are implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, genetically encoded features of the naïve BCR repertoire may affect disease risk, for instance in celiac disease (CeD) which is hallmarked by stereotyped disease-specific antibodies that recognize antigen in their germline configuration. Here we have characterized the BCR repertoire of naïve B cells in 102 individuals with CeD and 102 control subjects by undertaking gene usage quantitative trait loci analyses based on repertoire sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. Variants within each of the loci had significant effects on the naïve BCR repertoires, with the usage of 80% of IGH genes, 54% of IGK genes and 84% of IGL genes being significantly affected by gene polymorphisms. Effects of genetic polymorphisms on BCR usage were observed for genes implicated in stereotypic responses previously associated with CeD, yet no strong evidence for CeD predisposing effects of polymorphisms within the IGH, IGK and IGL loci was uncovered.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 6 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $19.83 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout





Data availability
Both raw and processed AIRR-seq data and genotyping data for the IGH, IGK and IGL regions and necessary metadata will be deposited at the European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA) under controlled access due to data protection. Data access is regulated through a data access agreement, and data usage will be limited to studies aiming to investigate immunological mechanisms related to autoimmune diseases. Corresponding authors can be contacted with any inquiries related to data access. Data requests must be made through the EGA website and will be evaluated by the Data Access Committee (made up of LMS, IL, and EN-J) within two weeks. Data analysis scripts can be made available by the authors upon reasonable request.
References
Tonegawa S. Somatic generation of antibody diversity. Nature. 1983;302:575–81.
Watson CT, Steinberg KM, Huddleston J, Warren RL, Malig M, Schein J, et al. Complete haplotype sequence of the human immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable, diversity, and joining genes and characterization of allelic and copy-number variation. Am J Hum Genet. 2013;92:530–46.
Gibson WS, Rodriguez OL, Shields K, Silver CA, Dorgham A, Emery M, et al. Characterization of the immunoglobulin lambda chain locus from diverse populations reveals extensive genetic variation. Genes Immun. 2023;24:21–31.
Rodriguez OL, Safonova Y, Silver CA, Shields K, Gibson WS, Kos JT, et al. Genetic variation in the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus shapes the human antibody repertoire. Nat Commun. 2023;14:4419.
Watson CT, Breden F. The immunoglobulin heavy chain locus: genetic variation, missing data, and implications for human disease. Genes Immun. 2012;13:363–73.
Rodriguez OL, Gibson WS, Parks T, Emery M, Powell J, Strahl M, et al. A novel framework for characterizing genomic haplotype diversity in the human immunoglobulin heavy chain locus. Front Immunol. 2020;11:2136.
Engelbrecht E, Rodriguez OL, Shields K, Schultze S, Tieri D, Jana U, et al. Resolving haplotype variation and complex genetic architecture in the human immunoglobulin kappa chain locus in individuals of diverse ancestry. Genes Immun. 2024;25:297–306.
Galson JD, Trück J, Fowler A, Münz M, Cerundolo V, Pollard AJ, et al. In-depth assessment of within-individual and inter-individual variation in the B cell receptor repertoire. Front Immunol. 2015;6:531.
Glanville J, Kuo TC, Von Büdingen HC, Guey L, Berka J, Sundar PD, et al. Naive antibody gene-segment frequencies are heritable and unaltered by chronic lymphocyte ablation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011;108:20066–71.
Rubelt F, Bolen CR, McGuire HM, Heiden JAV, Gadala-Maria D, Levin M, et al. Individual heritable differences result in unique cell lymphocyte receptor repertoires of naïve and antigen-experienced cells. Nat Commun. 2016;7:11112.
Honjo T, Habu S. Origin of immune diversity: genetic variation and selection. Annu Rev Biochem. 1985;54:803–30.
Wang C, Liu Y, Cavanagh MM, Le Saux S, Qi Q, Roskin KM, et al. B-cell repertoire responses to varicella-zoster vaccination in human identical twins. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2015;112:500–5.
Greiff V, Menzel U, Miho E, Weber C, Riedel R, Cook S, et al. Systems analysis reveals high genetic and antigen-driven predetermination of antibody repertoires throughout B cell development. Cell Rep. 2017;19:1467–78.
Slabodkin A, Chernigovskaya M, Mikocziova I, Akbar R, Scheffer L, Pavlović M, et al. Individualized VDJ recombination predisposes the available Ig sequence space. Genome Res. 2021;31:2209–24.
Gornitzka MB, Røsjø E, Jana U, Ford EE, Tourancheau A, Lees WD, et al. Ultra-long sequencing for contiguous haplotype resolution of the human immunoglobulin heavy chain locus [Internet]. Immunology. 2024 [cited 2025 July 21]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.14.628445v1
Jana U, Rodriguez OL, Lees W, Engelbrecht E, Vanwinkle Z, Peres A, et al. The human immunoglobulin heavy chain constant gene locus is enriched for large complex structural variants and coding polymorphisms that vary in frequency among human populations [Internet]. Genomics. 2025 [cited 2025 July 21]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.12.634878v2
Engelbrecht E, Rodriguez OL, Lees W, Vanwinkle Z, Shields K, Schultze S, et al. Germline polymorphism in the immunoglobulin kappa and lambda loci explain variation in the expressed light chain antibody repertoire [Internet]. Immunology. 2025 [cited 2025 July 10]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.28.656470v2
Vázquez-Arreguín K, Tantin D. The Oct1 transcription factor and epithelial malignancies: old protein learns new tricks. Biochim Biophys Acta Gene Regul Mech. 2016;1859:792–804.
Mikocziova I, Gidoni M, Lindeman I, Peres A, Snir O, Yaari G, et al. Polymorphisms in human immunoglobulin heavy chain variable genes and their upstream regions. Nucleic Acids Res. 2020;48:5499–510.
Mikocziova I, Peres A, Gidoni M, Greiff V, Yaari G, Sollid LM. Germline polymorphisms and alternative splicing of human immunoglobulin light chain genes. iScience. 2021;24:103192.
Feeney AJ, Atkinson MJ, Cowan MJ, Escuro G, Lugo G. A defective Vkappa A2 allele in Navajos which may play a role in increased susceptibility to haemophilus influenzae type b disease. J Clin Invest. 1996;97:2277–82.
Nadel B, Tang A, Escuro G, Lugo G, Feeney AJ. Sequence of the spacer in the recombination signal sequence affects V(D)J rearrangement frequency and correlates with nonrandom Vκ usage in vivo. J Exp Med. 1998;187:1495–503.
Fugmann SD, Lee AI, Shockett PE, Villey IJ, Schatz DG. The RAG proteins and V(D)J recombination: complexes, ends, and transposition. Annu Rev Immunol. 2000;18:495–527.
Espinoza CR, Feeney AJ. Chromatin accessibility and epigenetic modifications differ between frequently and infrequently rearranging VH genes. Mol Immunol. 2007;44:2675–85.
Kenter AL, Watson CT, Spille JH. Igh locus polymorphism may dictate topological chromatin conformation and V gene usage in the Ig repertoire. Front Immunol. 2021;12:682589.
Bolland DJ, Koohy H, Wood AL, Matheson LS, Krueger F, Stubbington MJT, et al. Two mutually exclusive local chromatin states drive efficient V(D)J recombination. Cell Rep. 2016;15:2475–87.
Barajas-Mora EM, Lee L, Lu H, Valderrama JA, Bjanes E, Nizet V, et al. Enhancer-instructed epigenetic landscape and chromatin compartmentalization dictate a primary antibody repertoire protective against specific bacterial pathogens. Nat Immunol. 2023;24:320–36.
Qiu X, Kumari G, Gerasimova T, Du H, Labaran L, Singh A, et al. Sequential enhancer sequestration dysregulates recombination center formation at the IgH Locus. Mol Cell. 2018;70:21–33.
Gidoni M, Snir O, Peres A, Polak P, Lindeman I, Mikocziova I, et al. Mosaic deletion patterns of the human antibody heavy chain gene locus shown by Bayesian haplotyping. Nat Commun. 2019;10:1–14.
Watson CT, Steinberg KM, Graves TA, Warren RL, Malig M, Schein J, et al. Sequencing of the human IG light chain loci from a hydatidiform mole BAC library reveals locus-specific signatures of genetic diversity. Genes Immun. 2015;16:24–34.
Kawasaki K, Minoshima S, Nakato E, Shibuya K, Shintani A, Asakawa S, et al. Evolutionary dynamics of the human immunoglobulin κ locus and the germline repertoire of the Vκ genes. Eur J Immunol. 2001;31:1017–28.
Lefranc MP, Pallarès N, Frippiat JP. Allelic polymorphisms and RFLP in the human immunoglobulin lambda light chain locus. Hum Genet. 1999;104:361–9.
Moraes Junta C, Passos GAS. Genomic EcoRI polymorphism and cosmid sequencing reveal an insertion/deletion and a new IGLV5 allele in the human immunoglobulin lambda variable locus (22q11.2/IGLV). Immunogenetics. 2003;55:10–5.
Bashford-Rogers RJM, Smith KGC, Thomas DC. Antibody repertoire analysis in polygenic autoimmune diseases. Immunology. 2018;155:3–17.
Mikocziova I, Greiff V, Sollid LM. Immunoglobulin germline gene variation and its impact on human disease. Genes Immun. 2021;22:205–17.
Iversen R, Sollid LM. Autoimmunity provoked by foreign antigens. Science. 2020;368:132–3.
Roy B, Neumann RS, Snir O, Iversen R, Sandve GK, Lundin KEA, et al. High-throughput single-cell analysis of B cell receptor usage among autoantigen-specific plasma cells in celiac disease. J Immunol. 2017;199:782–91.
Di Niro R, Mesin L, Zheng NY, Stamnaes J, Morrissey M, Lee JH, et al. High abundance of plasma cells secreting transglutaminase 2-specific IgA autoantibodies with limited somatic hypermutation in celiac disease intestinal lesions. Nat Med. 2012;18:441–5.
Steinsbø Ø, Dunand CJH, Huang M, Mesin L, Salgado-Ferrer M, Lundin KEA, et al. Restricted VH/VL usage and limited mutations in gluten-specific IgA of coeliac disease lesion plasma cells. Nat Commun. 2014;5:4041.
Snir O, Chen X, Gidoni M, du Pré MF, Zhao Y, Steinsbø Ø, et al. Stereotyped antibody responses target posttranslationally modified gluten in celiac disease. JCI Insight. 2017;2:e93961.
Lindeman I, Zhou C, Eggesbø LM, Miao Z, Polak J, Lundin KEA, et al. Longevity, clonal relationship, and transcriptional program of celiac disease-specific plasma cells. J Exp Med. 2021;218:e20200852.
Shemesh O, Polak P, Lundin KEA, Sollid LM, Yaari G. Machine learning analysis of naïve B-cell receptor repertoires stratifies celiac disease patients and controls. Front Immunol. 2021;12:633.
Andersen IL, Lukina P, Dyrli OT, Klaasen RA, Warren DJ, Bolstad N, et al. Serological screening for coeliac disease in an adult general population: the HUNT study. Gut. 2025;74:918–25.
Lukina P, Andersen IL, Eggen PT, Mjønes PG, Rønne E, Bolstad N, et al. Coeliac disease in the Trøndelag health study (HUNT), Norway, a population-based cohort of coeliac disease patients. BMJ Open. 2024;14:e077131.
Åsvold BO, Langhammer A, Rehn TA, Kjelvik G, Grøntvedt TV, Sørgjerd EP, et al. Cohort profile update: the HUNT study, Norway. Int J Epidemiol. 2023;52:90–1.
Rodriguez OL, Qiu X, Shields K, Dunn C, Singh A, Kaileh M, et al. Human genetic variation shapes the antibody repertoire across B cell development [Internet]. Genomics; 2025 [cited 2025 July 29]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.19.654982v1
Engelbrecht E, Rodriguez OL, Watson CT. Addressing technical pitfalls in pursuit of molecular factors that mediate immunoglobulin gene regulation. J Immunol. 2024;213:651–62.
Kirik U, Greiff L, Levander F, Ohlin M. Data on haplotype-supported immunoglobulin germline gene inference. Data Brief. 2017;13:620–40.
Iversen R, Di Niro R, Stamnaes J, Lundin KEA, Wilson PC, Sollid LM. Transglutaminase 2-specific autoantibodies in celiac disease target clustered, N-terminal epitopes not displayed on the surface of cells. J Immunol. 2013;190:5981–91.
Brumpton BM, Graham S, Surakka I, Skogholt AH, Løset M, Fritsche LG, et al. The HUNT study: a population-based cohort for genetic research. Cell Genomics. 2022;2:100193.
Lindeman I, Officer A, Dahal-Koirala S, Risnes LF, Hjort R, Lundin KEA, et al. A predisposing effect of HLA class II genes in celiac disease by skewing the naïve CD4+ T-cell receptor repertoire [Internet]. Immunology. 2025 [cited 2025 July 21]. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.15.663863v1
Vander Heiden JA, Yaari G, Uduman M, Stern JNH, O’Connor KC, Hafler DA, et al. pRESTO: a toolkit for processing high-throughput sequencing raw reads of lymphocyte receptor repertoires. Bioinformatics. 2014;30:1930–2.
Gupta NT, Vander Heiden JA, Uduman M, Gadala-Maria D, Yaari G, Kleinstein SH. Change-O: a toolkit for analyzing large-scale B cell immunoglobulin repertoire sequencing data. Bioinformatics. 2015;31:3356–8.
Ye J, Ma N, Madden TL, Ostell JM. IgBLAST: an immunoglobulin variable domain sequence analysis tool. Nucleic Acids Res. 2013;41:W34–40.
Manso T, Folch G, Giudicelli V, Jabado-Michaloud J, Kushwaha A, Nguefack Ngoune V, et al. IMGT® databases, related tools and web resources through three main axes of research and development. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022;50:D1262–72.
Giudicelli V, Chaume D, Lefranc MP. IMGT/GENE-DB: a comprehensive database for human and mouse immunoglobulin and T cell receptor genes. Nucleic Acids Res. 2005;33:D256–61.
Sayers EW, Beck J, Bolton EE, Brister JR, Chan J, Connor R, et al. Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information in 2025. Nucleic Acids Res. 2025;53:D20–9.
Lindeman I, Høydahl LS, Christophersen A, Risnes LF, Jahnsen J, Lundin KEA, et al. Generation of circulating autoreactive pre-plasma cells fueled by naive B cells in celiac disease. Cell Rep. 2024;43:114045.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all participants of the HUNT4 study for donation of blood samples to this project, and the personnel at HUNT Research Center and Levanger Hospital for assistance with collecting the sample material of the study subjects. The Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) is a collaboration between HUNT Research Center (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology [NTNU]), Trøndelag County Council, Central Norway Regional Health Authority, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. We thank Marie Kongshaug Johannessen, Marte Viken, and Lisa Brynjulfsen for assistance with experimental procedures. The Norwegian Sequencing Center and the Flow Cytometry Core Facility (both at Oslo University Hospital) provided analytical service. Sigma2 provided computational resources. Data analysis was performed on the TSD (Tjenester for Sensitive Data) facilities, owned by the University of Oslo. This study was funded by means from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (project 2022040), the Research Council of Norway (project 283274), and the University of Oslo (to LMS), from the Norwegian Coeliac Society (to LMS and EN-J), and from NTNU’s Outstanding Academic Fellows Program (to EN-J).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
LMS conceived and designed the study. IL, SD-K, and AO contributed to the study design. AO, IL, and SD-K performed experiments. AO and IL performed the formal data analysis and created the figures. AO, IL, LMS, EE, and CTW interpreted the data and provided input to data analysis. EN-J and KEAL provided biological samples and ethical approvals. SD-K and LFR contributed to sample collection. LMS and EN-J provided funding. LMS, IL, and CTW supervised the study. AO drafted the original manuscript. AO, IL, LMS, and CTW revised the manuscript. All authors approved the revised manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
CTW is a founder and shareholder of Clareo Biosciences, Inc. and serves as Chief Scientific Officer. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Officer, A., Watson, C.T., Engelbrecht, E. et al. Immunoglobulin gene polymorphisms shape the naïve B-cell receptor repertoire; relevance to celiac disease. Genes Immun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41435-026-00384-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41435-026-00384-4