V(D)J recombination gets a break.
The diversity of immunoglobulins and T cell receptors is largely due to the assembly of functional genes from separate segments. The mechanism by which these gene fragments are joined is starting to be deciphered, with broken DNA molecules that may be intermediates in the reaction providing a new clue.
Gellert
M
M
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892.
D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity; D001483:Base Sequence; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic