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Updated: Aug 20, 2026
Induction and Assessment of Class Switch Recombination in Purified Murine B Cells
Published on: August 13, 2010
The molecular events in heavy chain class-switching
Heavy chain class-switching is the process by which B lymphoid cells change the constant region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain they produce. Class-switching is most commonly accomplished by recombinationldeletion between switch recombination regions that lie upstream of each germline heavy chain constant region gene. Recent studies support a model that recombination to specific switch regions is directed by modulation of the accessibility of these regions to a common class-switch recombination system. T cell lymphokines seem to be able to alter the accessibility of different heavy chain constant region loci, and thereby direct the specificity of class-switch recombination in B cells.
Heavy chain class-switching is the process by which B lymphoid cells change the constant region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain they produce. Class-switching is most commonly accomplished by recombinationldeletion between switch recombination regions that lie upstream of each germline heavy chain constant region gene. Recent studies support a model that recombination to specific switch regions is directed by modulation of the accessibility of these regions to a common class-switch recombination system. T cell lymphokines seem to be able to alter the accessibility of different heavy chain constant region loci, and thereby direct the specificity of class-switch recombination in B cells.
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