Transcriptional regulation of the zebrafish activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) gene

• Author / Creator

  Pila, Ea

• Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID, encoded by Aicda) mediates affinity maturation of immunoglobulin genes. Early studies in mammals indicated that the transcription of Aicda was regulated by a number of transcriptional regulatory regions, including a B-cell specific enhancer in the first intron. However, in our past studies of fish AID genes we found what appeared to be transcriptional suppressive modules in intron 1 and two other conserved (among fishes) non-coding sequences upstream of the zebrafish Aicda. We subsequently found that the zebrafish Aicda upstream and intron 1 ‘suppressive modules’ function cooperatively to activate transcription. Our findings, consistent with recent observations in the mouse, suggest that this regulatory mechanism - achieved through the balance between enhancers and silencers - was acquired early in the evolution of the vertebrate adaptive immune system. Furthermore, these regulatory modules may be useful in the development of reporter transgenes for identifying and tracking Aicda-expressing cells in fish.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Transcriptional regulation
  • Activation-induced cytidine deaminase
  • Germinal centre
  • Affinity maturation
  • AID
  • Aicda
  • Class switch recombination
  • Somatic hypermutation
  • Zebrafish

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3NQ00

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.