Mizuuchi Laboratory

Section on Genetic mechanisms,

LMB,NIDDK,NIH

Our laboratory studies the mechanism of site-specific DNA recombination reactions. The transposition reaction of bacteriophage Mu is studied as a model system. This reaction is one of the best studied example of a wide-spread family of genetic rearrangement reactions. Many prokaryotic and eukaryotic transposons, including retro-transposons and retroviruses, jump from one location on a host genome to another by closely related mechanisms. Increasing evidence indicates that the mechanism of the immunoglobulin gene rearrangement reaction is also closely related to this family of reactions. We combine biochemical, molecular biological, and physicochemical approaches to study the highly regulated macromolecular complex assembly processes at the beginning of this recombination reaction.

Department of Health and Human Services

Last updated, August 12th, 2002