Processing of Switch Transcripts Is Required for Targeting of Antibody Class Switch Recombination

Processing of Switch Transcripts Is Required for Targeting of Antibody Class Switch Recombination

Antibody class switching is mediated by somatic recombination between switch regions of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene locus. Targeting of recombination to particular switch regions is strictly regulated by cytokines through the induction of switch transcripts starting 5' of the repetitive switch regions. However, switch transcription as such is not sufficient to target switch recombinatio...

53BP1 is required for class switch recombination

53BP1 participates early in the DNA damage response and is involved in cell cycle checkpoint control. Moreover, the phenotype of mice and cells deficient in 53BP1 suggests a defect in DNA repair (Ward et al., 2003b). Therefore, we asked whether or not 53BP1 would be required for the efficient repair of DNA double strand breaks. Our data indicate that homologous recombination by gene conversion ...

The μ Switch Region Tandem Repeats Are Important, but Not Required, for Antibody Class Switch Recombination

Class switch DNA recombinations change the constant (C) region of the antibody heavy (H) chain expressed by a B cell and thereby change the antibody effector function. Unusual tandemly repeated sequence elements located upstream of H chain gene exons have long been thought to be important in the targeting and/or mechanism of the switch recombination process. We have deleted the entire switch ta...

Interallelic Class Switch Recombination

Related Mechanisms of Antibody Somatic Hypermutation and Class Switch Recombination.

The primary antibody repertoire is generated by mechanisms involving the assembly of the exons that encode the antigen-binding variable regions of immunoglobulin heavy (IgH) and light (IgL) chains during the early development of B lymphocytes. After antigen-dependent activation, mature B lymphocytes can further alter their IgH and IgL variable region exons by the process of somatic hypermutatio...