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Chapter category: Immunology

Molecular Pathways and Mechanisms Regulating the Recombination of Immunoglobulin Genes During B-Lymphocyte Development

This chapter appears in the following book:

V(D)J Recombination

Edited by: Pierre Ferrier
ISBN: TBA
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Kristen Johnson, Karen L. Reddy and Harinder Singh


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The hallmark of B‑cell development is the ordered recombination of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes. Recently, considerable progress has been achieved in assembling gene regulatory networks comprised of signaling components and transcription factors that regulate B‑cell development. In this chapter we synthesize experimental evidence to explain how such signaling pathways and transcription factors can orchestrate the ordered recombination of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes. Recombination of antigen‑receptor loci is regulated both by the developmentally controlled expression of the Rag1 and Rag2 genes and the accessibility of particular loci and their gene segments to recombination. A new framework has emerged that invokes nuclear compartmentalization, large‑scale chromatin dynamics and localized changes in chromatin structure in regulating the accessibility of Ig loci at specific stages of B‑cell development. We review this emergent framework and discuss new experimental approaches that will be needed to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Kristen Johnson
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, The University of Chicago

Karen L. Reddy
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, The University of Chicago

Harinder Singh
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, The University of Chicago

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