The transcription factor Sox2 regulates AID expression in class switched B cells. Mus musculus

The transcription factor Sox2 is expressed in activated B cells following the initiation of immunoglobulin heavy chain class switch recombination (CSR), a reaction that deliberately introduces double strand breaks into the DNA. These lesions are generally highly toxic to the cell, so the reaction must be tightly controlled. This experiment used an overexpression model to test the hypothesis that Sox2 can regulate different aspects of the class switching reaction. Overall design: B cells were isolated from mouse spleen and stimulated ex vivo with anti-CD40 and IL4. At 24 and 48h of stimulation, cells were retrovirally infected with pMIR or pMIR-Sox2 and sorted at 96h based on mCherry expression. Total RNA from pMIR-Sox2 cells was compared to pMIR control cells for changes in gene expression.