Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated protein and DNA-dependent protein kinase have complementary V(D)J recombination functions

Antigen receptor variable region exons are assembled during lymphocyte development from variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) gene segments. Each germ-line gene segment is flanked by recombination signal sequences (RSs). Recombination-activating gene endonuclease initiates V(D)J recombination by cleaving a pair of gene segments at their junction with flanking RSs to generate covalently sealed (hairpinned) coding ends (CEs) and blunt...