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The Biochemistry of Somatic Hypermutation

2008; Annual Reviews; Volume: 26; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1146/annurev.immunol.26.021607.090236

1545-3278

Jonathan U. Peled, Fei Kuang, Maria D. Iglesias-Ussel, Sergio Roa, Susan L. Kalis, Myron F. Goodman, Matthew D. Scharff,

Immunodeficiency and Autoimmune Disorders

Affinity maturation of the humoral response is mediated by somatic hypermutation of the immunoglobulin (Ig) genes and selection of higher-affinity B cell clones. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is the first of a complex series of proteins that introduce these point mutations into variable regions of the Ig genes. AID deaminates deoxycytidine residues in single-stranded DNA to deoxyuridines, which are then processed by DNA replication, base excision repair (BER), or mismatch repair (MMR). In germinal center B cells, MMR, BER, and other factors are diverted from their normal roles in preserving genomic integrity to increase diversity within the Ig locus. Both AID and these components of an emerging error-prone mutasome are regulated on many levels by complex mechanisms that are only beginning to be elucidated.