HMCES protects immunoglobulin genes specifically from deletions during somatic hypermutation

摘要

Here, Wu et al. demonstrate that the DNA repair factor HMCES strongly suppresses deletions without significantly affecting other parameters of somatic hypermutation in mouse and human B cells, thereby facilitating the production of antigen-specific antibodies. Their findings lead to a novel model for the protection of Ig gene integrity during SHM in which abasic site cross-linking by HMCES intercedes at a critical juncture during processing of vulnerable gapped DNA intermediates by BER and MMR enzymes.