title: Rejoining of DNA by the RAG1 and RAG2 proteins.
abstract: Assembly of immunoglobulin and T cell receptor genes from separate gene segments [V(D)J recombination] begins with DNA double-strand breakage by the RAG1 and RAG2 proteins, acting at a pair of recombination signal sequences (RSSs). Here, the RAG proteins are shown to reverse the cleavage reaction by joining an RSS to a broken coding sequence end. These "hybrid joints" have also been found in lymphoid cells, even when the normal pathway of DNA double-strand break repair is inactive, and can now be explained by this activity of the RAG proteins.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0540, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melek
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gellert
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: van Gent
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D019672:Genes, T-Cell Receptor; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C064655:V(D)J recombination activating protein 2; C064658:RAG-1 protein; D004247:DNA