How to make ends meet in V(D)J recombination.
In most vertebrate species analyzed so far, the diversity of soluble or membrane-bound antigen-receptors expressed by B and T lymphocytes is generated by V(D)J recombination. During this process, the coding regions for the variable domains of antigen-receptors are created by the joining of subexons that are randomly selected from arrays of tandemly repeated V, D (sometimes) and J gene segments. This involves the site-specific cleavage of chromosomal DNA by the lymphocyte-specific recombination-activating gene (RAG)-1/2 proteins, which appear to have originated from an ancient transposable element. The DNA double-strand breaks created by RAG proteins are subsequently processed and rejoined by components of the nonhomologous DNA end-joining pathway, which is conserved in all eukaryotic organisms - from unicellular yeast up to highly complex mammalian species.
Universitaetsklinikum Ulm, Department of Immunology, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89081, Ulm, Germany. ulf.grawunder@medizin.uni-ulm.de
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D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000072481:DNA Ligase ATP; D011088:DNA Ligases / Q000378:metabolism; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015321:Gene Rearrangement / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019895:Transposases / Q000378:metabolism
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C499311:RAG2 protein, human; C499308:Rag2 protein, mouse; C064655:V(D)J recombination activating protein 2; C101467:XRCC4 protein, human; C064658:RAG-1 protein; D004247:DNA; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase; C497263:PRKDC protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D019895:Transposases; D011088:DNA Ligases; D000072481:DNA Ligase ATP