title: The contraction of time and space in remote chromosomal interactions.
abstract: Lucas et al. report the visualization of V(D)J recombination of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene (Igh) in living pro-B cells. Despite the huge distances separating V coding sequences from D-J sequences (~2 Mb), the authors document an astonishingly rapid rate of remote associations. The key to speed is contraction of the Igh chromosomal domain. These findings provide a foundation for understanding long-range regulatory interactions in a variety of developmental processes, including the patterning of vertebrate limbs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics, Genomics, and Development, Center for Integrative Genomics, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: mlevine@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D060152:V(D)J Recombination
chemical_list: D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains