Pseudoprimers Cause Somatic Hypermutation of Ig Genes

A. M. Olovnikov

Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Chernyakhovskogo 5-94, Moscow, 125319 Russia; fax: (095) 214-9269; E-mail: am@olovnikov.msk.ru

Received November 6, 1998

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It is proposed that hypermutation of the Ig gene is based on the use of "misprimers" (MPs) capable of competing with a true primer for the DNA. The MP is a product of the cleavage of the nascent transcript. Each MP has an erroneous base on its 3´ terminus. Wobbling of the unpaired 3´ end of the MP forces the DNA polymerase to make an error.

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KEY WORDS: antibody, hypermutation, pseudogenes, adaptive mutation

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