RAG-1 (Recombination Activating Gene-1) protein is closely related to herpes virus recombinases: Implications for the origins of the acquired immune system. (105.20)

Abstract

Abstract The acquired immune system results from recombination of germ-line DNA V(D)J signal sequences by the RAG-1 recombinase. RAG-1 is a dde magnesium binding recombinase related to both retroviral integrases and transposases. However the closest phylogenetic relative to RAG-1 appears to be a family of recombinases encoded by the herpesviridae termed the DBP (DNA binding proteins) that catalyze strand exchange and possibly other recombination events during herpes virus replication. Both the dde magnesium binding triad and the nonamer binding regions of RAG-1 are present and conserved in the DBP. These observations suggest that initially RAG-1 arose from an ancient insertion of a herpes-like infectious agent into a deuterostome genome prior to the origins of the acquired immune system. The author proposes a model in which the primordial RAG-1 recombinase was selected through its ability to promote viral immune responses through innate immune receptors in ancient deuterostomes prior to the origins of V(D)J recombination.