Complex regulation of somatic hypermutation by cis-acting sequences in the endogenous IgH gene in hybridoma cells.

ABSTRACT: To create high-affinity antibodies, B cells target a high rate of somatic hypermutation (SHM) to the Ig variable-region genes that encode the antigen-binding site. This mutational process requires transcription and is triggered by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which converts deoxycytidine to deoxyuridine. Mistargeting of AID to non-Ig genes is thought to result in the malignant transformation of B cells, but the mechanism responsible for targeting SHM to certain DNA regions and not to others is largely unknown. Cis-acting elements have been proposed to play a role in directing the hypermutation machinery, but the motifs required for targeting SHM have been difficult to identify because many of the candidate elements, such as promoters or enhancers, are also required for tran

SUBMITTER: Ronai D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1188009 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature