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Somatic hypermutation - where does it happen | |
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What was known before? The generation and selection of somatic antibody mutants are key elements of acquired immunity as they are responsible for the „affinity maturation” of the antibody response. Somatic hypermutation is caused by a mechanism that introduces point mutations at a high rate into rearranged Ig variable region genes. The phenomenon coincides with oligoclonal B cell proliferation in the so-called germinal centres of the secondary lymphoid organs. The important question Are the antibody mutants really generated during B cell proliferation in the germinal centres? The experiment  Related paper Jacob J, Kelsoe G, Rajewsky K, Weiss U. 1991. Intraclonal generation of antibody mutants in germinal centres. Nature 354(6352): 389-92. Related topics  B cell memory AID, an enzyme essential for class switching and somatic hypermutation |
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