RESUMO
Somatic hypermutation (SHM) and gene conversion (GCV) are closely related processes that increase the diversity the primary immunoglobulin repertoire. In both processes the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) converts cytosine residues to uracils within the DNA of the immunoglobulin (Ig) genes in a transcription-dependent manner, and subsequent error-prone repair processes lead to changes in the antigen recognition site of the encoded receptors. This activity is specifically recruited to the Ig loci by unknown mechanisms. Our analyses of the chicken B-cell line DT40, and derivatives thereof, now revealed that even the closest neighbors of the Ig light chain (IgL) gene are protected from AID activity, albeit being transcribed and thus acting as potential targets of AID. Our findings are in support of a model in which cis-acting DNA boundary elements restrict AID activity to the IgL locus and guard the genome in the vicinity of the IgL gene from deleterious mutations.
Assuntos
Galinhas/genética , Galinhas/imunologia , Citidina Desaminase/metabolismo , Variação Genética , Cadeias Leves de Imunoglobulina/genética , Transcrição Gênica , Alelos , Animais , Proteínas de Transporte/genética , Linhagem Celular , Análise Mutacional de DNA , Polimorfismo Genético , Receptores de Células Precursoras de Linfócitos B/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas/genéticaRESUMO
The Fragile X mental retardation syndrome is the largest source of inherited mental retardation. The syndrome usually results from the transcriptional silencing of the fragile X mental retardation gene (FMR1). To date the most prominent reported neuronal abnormalities for the fragile X mental retardation syndrome include a higher density of long thin spines similar to those found in sensory deprived and developing tissue, suggesting a possible deficit in pruning of immature spines. Dendrites on spiny stellate cells in the inner 1/3 of the barrel wall in layer IV of the rodent somatosensory cortex have been shown to exhibit developmental pruning similar to that affecting spines. To determine if FMRP plays a role in dendritic development, these neurons were examined in two strains of adult FMRP knockout (FraX) mice. FraX mice in both strains exhibited a greater amount of septa-oriented dendritic material, a morphology consistent with pre-pruning status early in development. This observation suggests that FMRP could be necessary for normal developmentally regulated dendritic pruning.
