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A PHD finger motif in the C-terminus of RAG2 modulates recombination activity
Structural highlights
FunctionRAG2_MOUSE Core component of the RAG complex, a multiprotein complex that mediates the DNA cleavage phase during V(D)J recombination. V(D)J recombination assembles a diverse repertoire of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes in developing B and T-lymphocytes through rearrangement of different V (variable), in some cases D (diversity), and J (joining) gene segments. DNA cleavage by the RAG complex occurs in 2 steps: a first nick is introduced in the top strand immediately upstream of the heptamer, generating a 3'-hydroxyl group that can attack the phosphodiester bond on the opposite strand in a direct transesterification reaction, thereby creating 4 DNA ends: 2 hairpin coding ends and 2 blunt, 5'-phosphorylated ends. The chromatin structure plays an essential role in the V(D)J recombination reactions and the presence of histone H3 trimethylated at 'Lys-4' (H3K4me3) stimulates both the nicking and haipinning steps. The RAG complex also plays a role in pre-B cell allelic exclusion, a process leading to expression of a single immunoglobulin heavy chain allele to enforce clonality and monospecific recognition by the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) expressed on individual B-lymphocytes. The introduction of DNA breaks by the RAG complex on one immunoglobulin allele induces ATM-dependent repositioning of the other allele to pericentromeric heterochromatin, preventing accessibility to the RAG complex and recombination of the second allele. In the RAG complex, RAG2 is not the catalytic component but is required for all known catalytic activities mediated by RAG1. It probably acts as a sensor of chromatin state that recruits the RAG complex to H3K4me3.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Evolutionary Conservation Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf. Publication Abstract from PubMedThe RAG1 and RAG2 proteins catalyze V(D)J recombination and are essential for generation of the diverse repertoire of antigen receptor genes and effective immune responses. RAG2 is composed of a "core" domain that is required for the recombination reaction and a C-terminal nonessential or "non-core" region. Recent evidence has emerged arguing that the non-core region plays a critical regulatory role in the recombination reaction, and mutations in this region have been identified in patients with immunodeficiencies. Here we present the first structural data for the RAG2 protein, using NMR spectroscopy to demonstrate that the C terminus of RAG2 contains a noncanonical PHD finger. All of the non-core mutations of RAG2 that are implicated in the development of immunodeficiencies are located within the PHD finger, at either zinc-coordinating residues or residues adjacent to an alpha-helix on the surface of the domain that participates in binding to the signaling molecules, phosphoinositides. Functional analysis of disease and phosphoinositide-binding mutations reveals novel intramolecular interactions within the non-core region and suggests that the PHD finger adopts two distinct states. We propose a model in which the equilibrium between these states modulates recombination activity. Together, these data identify the PHD finger as a novel and functionally important domain of RAG2. A PHD finger motif in the C terminus of RAG2 modulates recombination activity.,Elkin SK, Ivanov D, Ewalt M, Ferguson CG, Hyberts SG, Sun ZY, Prestwich GD, Yuan J, Wagner G, Oettinger MA, Gozani OP J Biol Chem. 2005 Aug 5;280(31):28701-10. Epub 2005 Jun 17. PMID:15964836[7] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. See AlsoReferences
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