V(D)J recombination-activating protein 2

UniProtKB accession:  O13034

Grouped By:  Matching UniProtKB accession

UniProtKB description:  Core component of the RAG complex, a multiprotein complex that mediates the DNA cleavage phase during V(D)J recombination. V(D)J recombination assembles a diverse repertoire of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes in developing B and T lymphocytes through rearrangement of different V (variable), in some cases D (diversity), and J (joining) gene segments. DNA cleavage by the RAG complex occurs in 2 steps: a first nick is introduced in the top strand immediately upstream of the heptamer, generating a 3'-hydroxyl group that can attack the phosphodiester bond on the opposite strand in a direct transesterification reaction, thereby creating 4 DNA ends: 2 hairpin coding ends and 2 blunt, 5'-phosphorylated ends. In the RAG complex, rag2 is not the catalytic component but is required for all known catalytic activities mediated by RAG1. It probably acts as a sensor of chromatin state that recruits the RAG complex to H3K4me3 (By similarity).