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The signature of somatic hypermutation appears to be written into the germline IgV segment repertoire
Author(s) -
Blanden Robert V.,
Ruthmfluh Harold S.,
Zylstrn Paula,
Weiller Geoig E,
Steele Edward J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
immunological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.839
H-Index - 223
eISSN - 1600-065X
pISSN - 0105-2896
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1998.tb01435.x
Subject(s) - somatic hypermutation , germline , biology , repertoire , somatic cell , germline mutation , signature (topology) , genetics , evolutionary biology , mutation , gene , antibody , b cell , physics , geometry , mathematics , acoustics
Summary: We present here a unifying hypothesis for the molecular mechanism of somatic hypermutation and somatic gene conversion in IgV genes involving reverse transcription using RNA templates from the V‐gene loci to produce cDNA which undergoes homologous recombination with chromosomal V(D)J DNA. Experimental evidence produced over the last 20 years is essentially consistent with this hypothesis. We also review evidence suggesting that somatically generated lgV sequences from B lymphocytes have been fed back to germline DNA over evolutionary time.