Activation-induced deaminase (AID) triggers antibody class switch recombination (CSR) in B cells by initiating DNA double strand breaks that are repaired by nonhomologous end-joining pathways. A role for AID at the repair step is unclear. We show that specific inactivation of the C-terminal AID domain encoded by exon 5 (E5) allows very efficient deamination of the AID target regions but greatly impacts the efficiency and quality of subsequent DNA repair. Specifically eliminating E5 not only precludes CSR but also, causes an atypical, enzymatic activity-dependent dominant-negative effect on CSR. Moreover, the E5 domain is required for the formation of AID-dependent Igh-cMyc chromosomal translocations. DNA breaks at the Igh switch regions induced by AID lacking E5 display defective end joining, failing to recruit DNA damage response factors and undergoing extensive end resection. These defects lead to nonproductive resolutions, such as rearrangements and homologous recombination that can antagonize CSR. Our results can explain the autosomal dominant inheritance of AID variants with truncated E5 in patients with hyper-IgM syndrome 2 and establish that AID, through the E5 domain, provides a link between DNA damage and repair during CSR.antibody gene diversification | isotype switching | somatic hypermutation

Mechanisms regulating B cell development, activation, education in the germinal center (GC) and differentiation, underpin the humoral immune response. Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (Prmt5), which catalyzes most symmetric dimethyl arginine protein modifications, is overexpressed in B cell lymphomas but its function in normal B cells is poorly defined. Here we show that Prmt5 is necessary for antibody responses and has essential but distinct functions in all proliferative B cell stages in mice. Prmt5 is necessary for B cell development by preventing p53-dependent and p53-independent blocks in Pro-B and Pre-B cells, respectively. By contrast, Prmt5 protects, via p53-independent pathways, mature B cells from apoptosis during activation, promotes GC expansion, and counters plasma cell differentiation. Phenotypic and RNA-seq data indicate that Prmt5 regulates GC light zone B cell fate by regulating transcriptional programs, achieved in part by ensuring RNA splicing fidelity. Our results establish Prmt5 as an essential regulator of B cell biology.

Classical nonhomologous end-joining (C-NHEJ) and alternative end-joining (A-EJ) are the main DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways when a sister chromatid is not available. However, it is not clear how one pathway is chosen over the other to process a given DSB. To address this question, we studied in mouse splenic B cells and CH12F3 cells how C-NHEJ and A-EJ repair DSBs initiated by the activation-induced deaminase during IgH (Igh) class-switch recombination (CSR). We show in this study that lowering the deamination density at the Igh locus increases DSB resolution by microhomology-mediated repair while decreasing C-NHEJ activity. This process occurs without affecting 53BP1 and γH2AX levels during CSR. Mechanistically, lowering deamination density increases exonuclease I recruitment and single-stranded DNA at the Igh locus and promotes C-terminal binding protein interacting protein and MSH2-dependent DSB repair during CSR. Indeed, reducing activation-induced deaminase levels increases CSR efficiency in C-NHEJ–defective cells, suggesting enhanced use of an A-EJ pathway. Our results establish a mechanism by which C-NHEJ and this C-terminal binding protein interacting protein/MSH2-dependent pathway that relies on microhomology can act concurrently but independently to repair different types of DSBs and reveal that the density of DNA lesions influences the choice of DSB repair pathway during CSR.

Activation-induced deaminase (AID) mutates the immunoglobulin (Ig) genes to initiate somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR) in B cells, thus underpinning antibody responses. AID mutates a few hundred other loci, but most AID-occupied genes are spared. The mechanisms underlying productive deamination versus non-productive AID targeting are unclear. Here we show that three clustered arginine residues define a functional AID domain required for SHM, CSR, and off-target activity in B cells without affecting AID deaminase activity or Escherichia coli mutagenesis. Both wt AID and mutants with single amino acid replacements in this domain broadly associate with Spt5 and chromatin and occupy the promoter of AID target genes. However, mutant AID fails to occupy the corresponding gene bodies and loses association with transcription elongation factors. Thus AID mutagenic activity is determined not by locus occupancy but by a licensing mechanism, which couples AID to transcription elongation.