Cancer Suppressing Proteins Found to Have Role in Antibody Production

Ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins have long been known to regulate fundamental biological processes and play important roles in embryonic, neuronal, and hematopoietic development. Through their epigenetic regulation of gene expression, they have been largely implicated as cancer suppressive proteins. Now, a team at La Jolla Institute for Immunology has uncovered how the TET2 and TET3 enzymes contribute to the regulation of immunoglobulin class switching and somatic hypermutation during B-cell activation. The researchers, led by Anjana Rao, PhD, professor, division of signaling and gene expression, La Jolla Institute, reported that mutations in TET2 and TET3 in mouse B cells diminish the generation of functional IgG antibodies, decreasing the effectiveness of immune responses.