DNA Hairpin Opening Mediated by the RAG1 and RAG2 Proteins

The lymphoid cell-specific proteins RAG1 and RAG2 initiate V(D)J recombination by cleaving DNA adjacent to recombination signals, generating blunt signal ends and covalently sealed, hairpin coding ends. A critical next step in the reaction is opening of the hairpins, but the factor(s) responsible has not been identified and had been thought to be a ubiquitous component(s) of the DNA repair machinery. Here we demonstrate that RAG1 and RAG2 possess an intrinsic single-stranded nuclease activity capable of nicking hairpin coding ends at or near the hairpin tip. In Mn(2+), a synthetic hairpin is nicked 5 nucleotides (nt) 5′ of the hairpin tip, with more distant sites of nicking suppressed by HMG2. In Mg(2+), hairpins generated by V(D)J cleavage are nicked whereas synthetic hairpins are not. Cleavage-generated hairpins are nicked at the tip and predominantly 1 to 2 nt 5′ of the tip. RAG1 and RAG2 may therefore be responsible for initiating the processing of coding ends and for the generation of P nucleotides during V(D)J recombination.