Title
The mu switch region tandem repeats are important, but not required, for antibody class switch recombination
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Date
1-15-2001
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Animals; B-Lymphocytes; Base Sequence; Cells, Cultured; DNA; DNA Primers; Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain; Hybridomas; *Immunoglobulin Switch Region; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Molecular Sequence Data; Recombination, Genetic; Sequence Deletion; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; *Tandem Repeat Sequences
Disciplines
Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Women's Studies
Abstract
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 tandem repeat element (S(mu)) from the murine (mu) H chain gene. We find that the S(mu) tandem repeats are not required for class switching in the mouse immunoglobulin H-chain locus, although the efficiency of switching is clearly reduced. Our data demonstrate that sequences outside of the S(mu) tandem repeats must be capable of directing the class switch mechanism. The maintenance of the highly repeated S(mu) element during evolution appears to reflect selection for a highly efficient switching process rather than selection for a required sequence element.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: J Exp Med. 2001 Jan 15;193(2):159-68.
Related Resources
PubMed ID
11148220
