A lymphocyte-specific enhancer in the mouse immunoglobulin kappa gene.
During differentiation of lymphocytes into antibody-producing cells, an immunoglobulin kappa variable-region gene is transcriptionally activated by rearrangement linking it to a kappa constant (C kappa) region gene which is already transcribed prior to somatic rearrangement. The presence of a transcriptional enhancer element within the large intron of the kappa light-chain gene has been postulated to explain this mode of activation, supported by evidence of a chromatin region which is preferentially accessible to DNase I and restriction enzymes. This DNA region contains a segment of about 130 base pairs (bp) which is strongly conserved between mouse, rabbit and man. Moreover, no transcripts are detectable from a kappa gene, which is truncated within the large intron. Recently, a lymphocyte-specific enhancer has been identified downstream of the joining region in immunoglobulin heavy-chain genes. We now show direct evidence for a functionally similar enhancer within the large kappa gene intron of the mouse. It is, however, less active than the heavy-chain gene enhancer. In contrast, no enhancer was found to be associated with a cloned lambda I light-chain gene.
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005796:Genes; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains