TY - BOOK ID - 8434118 TI - V(D)J recombination PY - 2009 SN - 1493901249 1441902953 9786612824975 1441902961 128282497X PB - New York, N.Y. : Austin, Tex. : Springer Science+Business Media ; Landes Bioscience, DB - UniCat KW - DNA-binding proteins. KW - Genetic recombination. KW - Genetic recombination KW - DNA-binding proteins KW - VDJ Recombinases KW - Recombination, Genetic KW - Recombinant Proteins KW - DNA-Binding Proteins KW - Nucleotidyltransferases KW - Proteins KW - Recombinases KW - Genetic Processes KW - Genetic Phenomena KW - Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins KW - Enzymes KW - Phosphotransferases KW - Enzymes and Coenzymes KW - Transferases KW - Chemicals and Drugs KW - Phenomena and Processes KW - Medical Research KW - Genetics KW - Medicine KW - Biology KW - Health & Biological Sciences KW - Medicine. KW - Biomedicine. KW - Biomedicine general. KW - Clinical sciences KW - Medical profession KW - Human biology KW - Life sciences KW - Medical sciences KW - Pathology KW - Physicians KW - Chromosomes KW - Recombinant DNA KW - Health Workforce KW - Biomedicine, general. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:8434118 AB - v(D)J recombination: for the community of immunologists and developmental biologists, the molecular route by which B and T lymphocytes acquire their unique function of affording adaptive immunity. Yet, for many-from experienced scientists to trainees-it represents a (rather too) sophisticated process whose true insight is excessively demanding. However, when not simplyconsidered as a private ground for a few aficionados, it can be seen as a way of understanding how maturelympho cytes carry on their basic functions. For the group of aficionados-which includes this editor-it is an elegant paradigm featuring many fascinating evolutionary achievements of which the biological world alone has the secret. These include a subtle biochemical principle most likelyhijacked some 470 million years ago from an ancestral gene invader and since then cleverly adapted by jawed vertebrates to precisely cleave and rearrange their antigen receptor (Ig andTCR)loci. This invader would itself have assigned the services of the nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) DNArepair machinery as well as various DNApolymerases or transferases to work in concert with developmental clues in lymphoid cell lineages to generate an immune repertoire and efficient host surveillance while avoiding autoimmunity. Recently, important new refinements in these systems have emerged, continuing to challenge ourknowledge andbeliefs. These arejust thetopics covered by the senior authors-all established leaders in this field-and their colleagues, whilst writing the various chapters in V(D)J Recombination. ER -