Function of the AID C terminus in Ig class switching

Univ Of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester, Worcester MA

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for an exploratory grant to build on our preliminary results suggesting that the C terminus of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is important for the recombination step during antibody class switch recombination (CSR). It has been known for several years that the C terminal 10 amino acids of AID are very important for CSR, although they do not appear to have any role during somatic hypermutation (SHM) of antibody genes, a process also dependent upon AID. Also, the AID C terminus is important for preventing chromosomal translocations between the IgH and c-myc loci. We have obtained novel results indicating that in splenic B cells induced to undergo CSR, AID binds to Ig switch (S) regions cooperatively with other enzymes involved in introducing DNA breaks into S regions, specifically UNG and Msh2-Msh6, and that this binding is dependent upon the AID C terminus. Using retroviral over-expression in aid-/- mouse splenic B cells of AID, we detect AID binding to S? and S?? in chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, whereas C terminal deleted AID (?AID) does not ChIP with S region DNA. Likewise, both UNG and Msh2-Msh6 are also detected by ChIP at S? in aid-/- cells expressing ?AID, but they are not detected in cells expressing AID, suggesting that the binding of these repair proteins depends on the AID C terminus, and the binding of AID and these proteins might be cooperative, i.e. co-dependent. Consistent with the hypothesis that these proteins bind cooperatively to S? DNA, in ung-/-aid-/- B cells or in msh2-/-aid-/- B cells, transduced full lengt AID cannot be detected at S? by ChIP. These results suggest that in order for AID and UNG and Msh2-Msh6 to bind sufficiently stably to be detected by ChIP at S regions, they must bind DNA cooperatively with each other, and this cooperative binding depends on the AID C terminus. We propose to test the hypotheses (1) that the AID C terminus recruits UNG and Msh2-Msh6 to S regions via an intermediary protein, and (2) that the C terminus of AID is important for recruiting UNG and Msh2-Msh6 to S regions during the G1 phase of the cell cycle, and (3) that the C terminus of AID is important for steps subsequent to formation of DNA breaks that direct CSR towards non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). In order to test these hypotheses we propose 3 Specific Aims: 1) To investigate the mechanism of interaction between AID and UNG and Msh2-Msh6. 2) To determine if the recruitment of UNG and Msh2-Msh6 by AID is important for creating DSBs in S regions during G1 phase and also for their repair during G1 phase. In normal splenic B cells, AID-dependent S? DSBs are restricted to the G1 phase. However, in other cell types, UNG and Msh2- Msh6 are recruited by the DNA replication complex to DNA during S phase. 3) To determine if the AID C terminus is important for recruiting enzymes involved in NHEJ to S regions and thereby directing CSR toward NHEJ.