Immunity
Volume 5, Issue 4, 1 October 1996, Pages 319-330
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Article
The SCID but Not the RAG-2 Gene Product Is Required for Sμ–Sε Heavy Chain Class Switching

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Abstract

We have investigated the capacity of precursor B cells from normal (BDF1) and V(D)J recombinase–deficient (RAG-2T) or defective (SCID) mice to be induced by a CD40-specific monoclonal antibody and IL-4 to εH chain gene transcription and to Sμ–Sε switch recombination. In differentiating precursor B cells from all three strains of mice, the development of similar numbers of CD19+, CD23+, CD40+, and MHC class II+ expressing B lineage cells and similar levels of εH chain gene transcription were induced. Efficient Sμ–Sε switching occurred in normal and RAG-2-deficient, but not in SCID, precursor B cells. Thus, the transcription of the εH chain is independent of the RAG-2 and the SCID gene product, while the Sμ–Sε switch recombination requires the SCID gene–encoded DNA-dependent protein kinase, but not the RAG-2 protein.

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