A lot of things need to go right on a molecular level for immune cells to launch an adaptive response to an infection.
The B cells can produce different classes of antibodies tailored for specific infections by controlled DNA damage and repair to alter the genetic information needed to encode the antibodies. When the process goes awry, it can produce mutations or genomic rearrangements that promote formation of tumors.
Now for the first time, MSU researchers developed a tool to observe this complex molecular choreography in real time. Their work, published June 23 in the journal Molecular Cell, is shedding light on one of the enduring mysteries of the process: how a key protein locates the correct regions of the immune cell genome to initiate the adaptive response.