BBSRC DTG Studentship: Regulatory elements controlling V(D)J recombination

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In order to fight infection, B lymphocytes in the immune system must make antibodies of several million different types to recognise all the potential foreign pathogens the body may encounter. They do this firstly by cutting and pasting together two hundred different antibody genes into multiple different combinations. These genes are divided into three groups; variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) genes. The DNA is made available for this recombining process only at very specific stages of development of the B cell, such that the genes are recombined together in a strict order : a D gene recombines with a J gene first, followed by adding on a V gene. This order ensures that correct antibodies are made and that the DNA is not 'cut' at the wrong time, which can lead to incorrect pasting and lymphomas. It is unknown what stops V genes recombining before D and J genes. We have identified a large DNA region between the V and D genes. The aim of the project is to determine whether this region contains DNA sequences that regulate the order of recombination.

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