title: Access roads for RAG-ged terrains: control of T cell receptor gene rearrangement at multiple levels.
abstract: Antigen-specific immune response requires the generation of a diverse antigen (Ag)-receptor repertoire. The primary repertoire is generated through somatic gene rearrangement and molded by subsequent cellular selection. Constraints during gene recombination influence the ultimate shape of the repertoire. One major control mechanism of gene rearrangement, investigated for many years, is exerted through regulated chromosomal accessibility of the recombinase to the antigen receptor loci. More recent studies began to explore the role of interactions between the recombinase and its cognate recognition DNA sequences. The emerging results suggest that formation of the primary repertoire is controlled by two, partially independent factors: chromosomal accessibility and direct recombinase-DNA interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. almassy@rocketmail.com
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Livák
authors.forename: Howard T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Petrie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000502:physiology; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D016654:Genes, RAG-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D037182:T-Cell Antigen Receptor Specificity / Q000235:genetics*; D045567:VDJ Recombinases
chemical_list: D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases; D045567:VDJ Recombinases