The molecular events in heavy chain class-switching.
Heavy chain class-switching is the process by which B lymphoid cells change the constant region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain they produce. Class-switching is most commonly accomplished by recombinationldeletion between switch recombination regions that lie upstream of each germline heavy chain constant region gene. Recent studies support a model that recombination to specific switch regions is directed by modulation of the accessibility of these regions to a common class-switch recombination system. T cell lymphokines seem to be able to alter the accessibility of different heavy chain constant region loci, and thereby direct the specificity of class-switch recombination in B cells.
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Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA
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D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006801:Humans; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching / Q000235:genetics*; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions / Q000235:genetics; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000276:immunology; D008934:Mitogens / Q000276:immunology; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000276:immunology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000276:immunology
D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D008222:Lymphokines; D008934:Mitogens