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Mol Cell Biol, April 1998, p. 2029-2037, Vol. 18, No. 4
Department of Medicine, Department of
Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Department of Oncology, The
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
Received 10 October 1997/Returned for modification 10 November
1997/Accepted 24 November 1997
The V(D)J recombinase recognizes a pair of immunoglobulin or T-cell
receptor gene segments flanked by recombination signal sequences and
introduces double-strand breaks, generating two signal ends and two
coding ends. Broken coding ends were initially identified as covalently
closed hairpin DNA molecules. Before recombination, however, the
hairpins must be opened and the ends must be modified by nuclease
digestion and N-region addition. We have now analyzed nonhairpin coding
ends associated with various immunoglobulin gene segments in cells
undergoing V(D)J recombination. We found that these broken DNA ends
have different nonrandom 5'-strand deletions which were characteristic
for each locus examined. These deletions correlate well with the
sequence characteristics of coding joints involving these gene
segments. In addition, unlike broken signal ends, these nonhairpin
coding-end V(D)J recombination reaction intermediates have 3'
overhanging ends. We discuss the implications of these results for
models of how sequence modifications occur during coding-joint
formation.
0270-7306/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Structure of Nonhairpin Coding-End DNA Breaks in
Cells Undergoing V(D)J Recombination
*
Mailing address: Department of Medicine, The Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine, Room 1068, Ross Building, 720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205. Phone: (410) 502-6453. Fax:
410-955-0964. E-mail: mss{at}welchlink.welch.jhu.edu.
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