The repair and recombination enzyme ERCC1 is not required for immunoglobulin class switching.
Class switch recombination (CSR) is a programmed gene rearrangement in which a B cell which is producing IgM and IgD antibody develops into an IgG-, IgA- or IgE-expressing cell. This is achieved by recombination between switch regions located 5' of each of the immunoglobulin heavy chain constant regions, except Cdelta. The mechanism of CSR has not been resolved but it is thought to involve a double-strand break followed by end joining. It has previously been suggested that the nucleotide excision repair protein ERCC1 may be involved in CSR due to its known roles in removal of 3' single-stranded tails in various types of recombination. In this study, we examined class switching in cultured splenocytes from ERCC1-deficient mice and found no evidence of any deficiency.
Winter
Andrew G
AG
Sir Alastair Currie Cancer Research UK Laboratories, Molecular Medicine Centre, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
Samuel
Kay
K
Hsia
Kan-Tai
KT
Melton
David W
DW
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D004260:DNA Repair; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004720:Endonucleases; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005838:Genotype; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013997:Time Factors; D019076:Transgenes
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D004720:Endonucleases; C499360:Ercc1 protein, mouse