title: The recombination activating gene-1 (RAG-1) transcript is present in the murine central nervous system.
abstract: The recombination activating genes, RAG-1 and RAG-2, are likely to encode components of the V(D)J site-specific recombination machinery. We report here the detection of low levels of the RAG-1 transcript in the murine central nervous system by polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, and Northern blot analyses. In contrast, an authentic RAG-2 transcript could not be detected reproducibly in the central nervous system. The RAG-1 transcript was found to be widespread in embryonic and postnatal neurons, with transcription being most apparent in regions of the postnatal brain with a high neuronal cell density (the cerebellum and the hippocampal formation). The results suggest that RAG-1 functions in neurons, where its role might be to recombine elements of the neuronal genome site-specifically, or to prevent detrimental alterations of the genome in these long-lived cells.
authors.affiliation: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Schatz
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oettinger
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jaenisch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baltimore
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005796:Genes; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D009928:Organ Specificity; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015347:RNA Probes; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013724:Teratoma; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D015347:RNA Probes; D003561:Cytarabine; D014212:Tretinoin