The immune system protects us by recognizing and remembering viruses, bacteria, and vaccine components. Antibodies are key players in this response. Their ability to effectively recognize pathogens depends on somatic hypermutation (SHM), a process that mutates antibody genes to enhance their protective function. While essential for immunity, SHM can also be harmful if misdirected, introducing mutations into other genes and potentially causing cancer. We discovered that specialized enhancers in antibody genes help recruit SHM to the correct locations. This project investigates how these enhancers guide SHM and whether similar mechanisms mistakenly target other genes, turning them into cancer drivers. Understanding how SHM finds its genomic targets is key to explaining both how the immune system generates protective antibodies and how this same process can damage the genome, contributing to cancer. This work addresses a fundamental gap in our knowledge of immunity and genome integrity.

2025

2029