The taming of a transposon: V(D)J recombination and the immune system

@article{Jones2004TheTO,
  title={The taming of a transposon: V(D)J recombination and the immune system},
  author={Jessica M Jones and Martin Gellert},
  journal={Immunological Reviews},
  year={2004},
  volume={200}
}
Summary:  The genes that encode immunoglobulins and T‐cell receptors must be assembled from the multiple variable (V), joining (J), and sometimes diversity (D) gene segments present in the germline loci. This process of V(D)J recombination is the major source of the immense diversity of the immune repertoire of jawed vertebrates. The recombinase that initiates the process, recombination‐activating genes 1 (RAG1) and RAG2, belongs to a large family that includes transposases and retroviral… 
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This review follows the evolution of recombination activation genes (RAGs), components of adaptive immunity, from TEs, focusing on the structural and mechanistic similarities between RAG recombinases and DNA transposases.
New insights into the evolutionary origins of the recombination‐activating gene proteins and V(D)J recombination
TLDR
Recent progress in identifying and characterizing RAG‐like proteins and the TEs that encode them is summarized and a refined model for the evolution of V(D)J recombination and the RAG proteins is presented.
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A two-tiered mechanism for the suppression of RAG-mediated transposition is revealed, the evolution of V(D)J recombination is illuminated, and insight is provided into the principles that govern the molecular domestication of transposons.
Collaboration of RAG2 with RAG1-like proteins during the evolution of V(D)J recombination.
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It is proposed that evolution of RAG1/RAG2 began with a Transib transposon whose intrinsic recombination activity was enhanced by capture of an ancestral RAG2, allowing for the development of adaptive immunity.
The origins of the Rag genes--from transposition to V(D)J recombination.
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The noncore domain of RAG2 serves to limit the extent to which the integrity of the genome is threatened by mistargeting of V(D)J recombination, as seen in murine thymocyte and splenocyte genomic DNA samples.
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Paleo-Immunology: Evidence Consistent with Insertion of a Primordial Herpes Virus-Like Element in the Origins of Acquired Immunity
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The suggestion that the DDE recombinase responsible for the origins of acquired immunity was encoded by a primordial herpes virus, rather than a “RAG transposon” is suggested.
Large-scale chromatin remodeling at the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus: a paradigm for multigene regulation.
TLDR
This chapter will examine the structure of the Igh locus and the large-scale and higher-order chromatin remodelling processes associated with V(D)J recombination, at the level of the locus itself, its conformational changes and its dynamic localisation within the nucleus.
Visualizing Mu transposition: assembling the puzzle pieces.
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An electron microscopy-based 3D model of the protein–DNA complex responsible for Mu transposition (the transpososome) is presented, which not only ties together years of accumulated biochemical and structural data, but also provides interesting new insights.
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