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Regions of RAG1 protein critical for V(D)J recombination
Author(s) -
Kirch Susan A.,
Sudarsanam Priya,
Oettinger Marjorie A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
european journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1521-4141
pISSN - 0014-2980
DOI - 10.1002/eji.1830260425
Subject(s) - rag2 , recombination activating gene , biology , v(d)j recombination , recombination , mutant , recombination signal sequences , gene , genetics , coding region , site specific recombination , microbiology and biotechnology , recombinase
Abstract The products of the recombination activating genes RAG1 and RAG2 are essential for activating V(D)J recombination, and thus are indispensable for the production of functional and diverse antigen receptors. To investigate the function of RAG1, we have tested a series of insertion and substitution mutations for their ability to induce V(D)J rearrangement on both deletional and inversional plasmid substrates. With these substrates we were also able to assess the effects of these mutations on both coding and signal joint formation, and to show that any one mutant affected all these reactions similarly. As defined previously, the core active regions of RAG1 and RAG2 permit the deletion of 40% and 25%, respectively, of well‐conserved sequence. We show here that this “dispensable” region of RAG1 is not necessary for coding joint formation or for recombination of an integrated substrate, and that this portion is not functionally redundant with the “dispensable” region of RAG2. Recombination with these core regions is also still subject to the 12/23 joining rule. Further, the minimal essential core region of RAG1 can be located within an even smaller portion of the gene.