The role of DNA repair in somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes

Immunoglobulin (Ig) genes are first modified through the V(D)J (V, variable; D, diversity; J, joining) recombination process in pre-B cells. The Rag1/Rag2-dependent V(D)J recombination generates a large repertoire of B lymphocytes, each expressing a unique antibody molecule. Rearranged Ig genes are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of experimental medicine 1998-06, Vol.187 (11), p.1729-1733
Main Authors: Kim, N, Storb, U
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
DNA Repair - physiology
DNA-Binding Proteins
Genes, Immunoglobulin
Humans
Mutation
MutS Homolog 2 Protein
Proto-Oncogene Proteins - genetics
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Summary:Immunoglobulin (Ig) genes are first modified through the V(D)J (V, variable; D, diversity; J, joining) recombination process in pre-B cells. The Rag1/Rag2-dependent V(D)J recombination generates a large repertoire of B lymphocytes, each expressing a unique antibody molecule. Rearranged Ig genes are further modified by the somatic hypermutation process in activated germinal center B lymphocytes. Through somatic hypermutation, point mutations are introduced into Ig genes at the average frequency of one mutation/10 super(2) base pairs. After the mutation process, B cells with nucleotide substitutions resulting in higher affinity antibody are selected for proliferation and differentiation into memory or plasma cells.
ISSN:0022-1007
1540-9538
DOI:10.1084/jem.187.11.1729