title: The center of accessibility: Dβ control of V(D)J recombination.
abstract: Developmental patterning of antigen receptor gene assembly in lymphocyte precursors correlates with decondensation of the chromatin surrounding individual gene segments. Ongoing V(D)J recombination is associated with hyperacetylation of histones H3 and H4 and the expression of sterile germline transcripts across the region of recombinational accessibility. Likewise, histone acetyltransferase and SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes each appear to be required for recombination, and the PHD-finger of RAG-2 preferentially associates with recombination signal sequence (RSS) chromatin that contains H3 trimethylated on lysine 4. However, the regulatory mechanisms that direct chromatin alteration and rearrangement have proven elusive, due in large part to the interdependency of individual stages in gene activation, our limited understanding of functional significance of changes to the histone code, and the difficulty of modeling recombinational accessibility in existing experimental systems. Examining Tcrb assembly in developing thymocytes, we review the central roles of RSS elements and germline promoters as foci for epigenetic reorganization of recombinationally accessible gene segments in light of recent findings and persistent questions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Campus Box 7615, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. mlsikes@ncsu.edu
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Sikes
authors.forename: Ruth E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D019674:Genes, T-Cell Receptor beta; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D045567:VDJ Recombinases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D045567:VDJ Recombinases