Roth David B
Department of Pathology, Program in Molecular Pathogenesis, Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA.
Nat Rev Immunol. 2003 Aug;3(8):656-66. doi: 10.1038/nri1152.
Chromosome breakage--a dangerous event that has triggered the evolution of several double-strand break repair pathways--has been co-opted by the immune system as an integral part of B- and T-cell development. This is a daring strategy, as improper repair can be deadly for the cell, if not for the whole organism. Even more daring, however, is the choice of a promiscuous transposase as the nuclease responsible for chromosome breakage, as the possibility of transposition brings an entirely new set of risks. What mechanisms constrain the dangerous potential of the recombinase and preserve genomic integrity during immune-system development?
染色体断裂——这一引发了多种双链断裂修复途径进化的危险事件——已被免疫系统征用，成为B细胞和T细胞发育不可或缺的一部分。这是一个大胆的策略，因为修复不当即便不会危及整个生物体，也会对细胞造成致命影响。然而，更大胆的是选择一种混杂的转座酶作为负责染色体断裂的核酸酶，因为转座的可能性带来了一系列全新的风险。在免疫系统发育过程中，是什么机制限制了重组酶的危险潜力并维护了基因组完整性？
