Recombination-activating gene

The recombination-activating genes (RAGs) encode enzymes that play an important role in the rearrangement and recombination of the genes of immunoglobulin and T cell receptor molecules. There are two recombination-activating gene products known as RAG-1 and RAG-2, whose cellular expression is restricted to lymphocytes during their developmental stages. RAG-1 and RAG-2 are essential to the generation of mature B and T lymphocytes, two cell types that are crucial components of the adaptive immune system.