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J. Exp. Med.,
Volume 187, Number 5, March 2, 1998 795-799
Light Chain Genes in Mature B Cells
In Vitro and In Vivo. Function of Reexpressed
Recombination-activating Gene (RAG) Products
By
From the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University,
Tsushima-Naka, Okayama 700 Japan
V(D)J (V, variable; D, diversity; J, joining) combination of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes established in premature B cells has been thought to be conserved throughout differentiation at mature stages. However, germinal center (GC) B cells have been shown to reexpress recombination-activating gene (RAG)-1 and RAG-2 proteins in immunized mice. Here, we present
several lines of evidence indicating that RAG proteins thus induced are functional as the V(D)J
recombinase. DNA excision product reflecting V
1 to J
1 rearrangement was generated in
parallel with the expression of RAG genes in mature mouse B cells that were activated in vitro with LPS and IL-4. Similar
chain gene rearrangement was observed in the draining lymph
node of immunized mice. Further, B cells that underwent
gene rearrangement were shown
by in situ PCR to be localized within GCs. Thus, secondary rearrangement of Ig genes (receptor editing) can occur in mature B cells.
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