Rejoining of DNA by the RAG1 and RAG2 proteins.
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.
Melek
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M
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0540, USA.
Gellert
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M
van Gent
D C
DC
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
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C064655:V(D)J recombination activating protein 2; C064658:RAG-1 protein; D004247:DNA