Abstract
During the assembly of immunoglobulin and T cell receptor variable region genes from variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) segments, the germline-encoded repertoire is further diversified by processes that include the template-independent addition of nucleotides (N regions) at gene segment junctions. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-deficient lymphocytes had no N regions in their variable region genes, which shows that TdT is responsible for N region addition. In addition, certain variable region genes appeared at increased frequency in TdT-deficient thymocytes, which indicates that N region addition also influences repertoire development by alleviating sequence-specific constraints imposed on the joining of particular V, D, and J segments.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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B-Lymphocytes / enzymology
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B-Lymphocytes / immunology*
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Base Sequence
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DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase / metabolism*
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DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / metabolism
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Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte
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Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte
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Genes, Immunoglobulin*
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Immunoglobulin Joining Region / genetics
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Immunoglobulin Variable Region / genetics
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Mice
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Nucleotides / metabolism*
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / genetics*
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T-Lymphocytes / enzymology
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T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
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VDJ Recombinases
Substances
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Immunoglobulin Joining Region
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Immunoglobulin Variable Region
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Nucleotides
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
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DNA Nucleotidyltransferases
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VDJ Recombinases
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DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase