Click here to close Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Echinobase and may cause the site to display incorrectly. We suggest using a current version of Chrome, FireFox, or Safari.
Echinobase
ECB-ART-44615
Genes Dev 2016 Apr 15;308:909-17. doi: 10.1101/gad.278432.116.
Show Gene links Show Anatomy links

Collaboration of RAG2 with RAG1-like proteins during the evolution of V(D)J recombination.

Carmona LM , Fugmann SD , Schatz DG .


Abstract
The recombination-activating gene 1 (RAG1) and RAG2 proteins initiate V(D)J recombination, the process that assembles the B- and T-lymphocyte antigen receptor genes of jawed vertebrates. RAG1 and RAG2 are thought to have arisen from a transposable element, but the origins of this element are not understood. We show that two ancestral RAG1 proteins, Transib transposase and purple sea urchin RAG1-like, have a latent ability to initiate V(D)J recombination when coexpressed with RAG2 and that in vitro transposition by Transib transposase is stimulated by RAG2. Conversely, we report low levels of V(D)J recombination by RAG1 in the absence of RAG2. Recombination by RAG1 alone differs from canonical V(D)J recombination in having lost the requirement for asymmetric DNA substrates, implicating RAG2 in the origins of the "12/23 rule," a fundamental regulatory feature of the reaction. We propose that evolution of RAG1/RAG2 began with a Transib transposon whose intrinsic recombination activity was enhanced by capture of an ancestral RAG2, allowing for the development of adaptive immunity.

PubMed ID: 27056670
PMC ID: PMC4840297
Article link: Genes Dev
Grant support: [+]

Genes referenced: LOC100887844 LOC115925255


Article Images: [+] show captions
References [+] :
Agrawal, Transposition mediated by RAG1 and RAG2 and its implications for the evolution of the immune system. 1998, Pubmed