Abstract
The N-terminus of full-length RAG1, though dispensable for RAG1/2 cleavage activity, is required for efficient V(D)J recombination. This region supports RING E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro, but whether full-length RAG1 functions as a single subunit or a multi-subunit E3 ligase in vivo is unclear. We show the multi-subunit cullin RING E3 ligase complex VprBP/DDB1/Cul4A/Roc1 associates with full-length RAG1 through VprBP. This complex is assembled into RAG protein-DNA complexes, and supports in-vitro ubiquitylation activity that is insensitive to RAG1 RING domain mutations. Conditional B lineage-specific VprBP disruption arrests B-cell development at the pro-B-to-pre-B cell transition, but this block is bypassed by expressing rearranged immunoglobulin transgenes. Mice with a conditional VprBP disruption show modest reduction of D-J H rearrangement, whereas V H-DJ H and V κ-J κ rearrangements are severely impaired. D-J H coding joints from VprBP-insufficent mice show longer junctional nucleotide insertions and a higher mutation frequency in D and J segments than normal. These data suggest full-length RAG1 recruits a cullin RING E3 ligase complex to ubiquitylate an unknown protein(s) to limit error-prone repair during V(D)J recombination.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 945-958 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | EMBO Journal |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 15 2012 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Neuroscience(all)
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Immunology and Microbiology(all)