Transcriptional control of lymphocyte development in healthy and immune deficient individuals

Description of projects available to graduate students:
VDJ recombination, the process by which antigen receptor genes are rearranged, is required for development of a fully diverse repertoire and immunocompetence. The rag1/2 genes form a key part of the VDJ recombinase complex that initiates recombination by nicking the DNA at Ig and TCR loci. Partial or complete inhibition of rag1/2 and hence, VDJ recombinase activity, leads to fatal human immune deficiencies including SCID and Omenn Syndrome. Identifying the mechanisms by which rag genes are regulated is critical for understanding control of VDJ recombination and generation of repertoire diversity.We propose to characterize the transcription factor E47 throughout B lineage development in normal and diseased patients.

Techniques graduate student will learn:
flow cytometry
single cell PCR, real time PCR
identification of lymphocyte subsets in mouse and man
cell culture
retroviral technology