title: Foxo1 directly regulates the transcription of recombination-activating genes during B cell development.
abstract: Regulated expression of the recombinase RAG-1 and RAG-2 proteins is necessary for generating the vast repertoire of antigen receptors essential for adaptive immunity. Here, a retroviral cDNA library screen showed that the stress-regulated protein GADD45a activated transcription of the genes encoding RAG-1 and RAG-2 in transformed pro-B cells by a pathway requiring the transcription factor Foxo1. Foxo1 directly activated transcription of the Rag1-Rag2 locus throughout early B cell development, and a decrease in Foxo1 protein diminished the induction of Rag1 and Rag2 transcription in a model of receptor editing. We also found that transcription of Rag1 and Rag2 was repressed at the pro-B cell and immature B cell stages by the kinase Akt through its 'antagonism' of Foxo1 function. Thus, Foxo1 is a key regulator of Rag1 and Rag2 transcription in primary B cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Rupesh H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Schlissel
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D000071161:Forkhead Box Protein O1; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D016654:Genes, RAG-1; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C085126:FOXO1 protein, human; D000071161:Forkhead Box Protein O1; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell