The AICDA protein, also known as Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase (AID), plays a crucial role in the immune system. As an enzyme, it mediates affinity maturation and promotes DNA demethylation in germinal center B cells. Specifically, AICDA is essential for generating antibody diversity and forming immune memory by inducing mutations and recombination in antibody genes. It facilitates somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination in immunoglobulin genes, thus enhancing the diversity and specificity of antibodies. However, abnormal expression of AICDA has also been associated with certain diseases. For instance, overexpression of AICDA has been shown to render BCL2-driven mouse lymphomas more aggressive. Additionally, excessive expression of AICDA is considered an important source of epigenetic heterogeneity in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which is primarily associated with relative loss of cytosine methylation, increasing tumor heterogeneity and overall adaptive capacity.
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