title: Germ-line transcripts of the immunoglobulin lambda J-C clusters in the mouse: characterization of the initiation sites and regulatory elements.
abstract: Transcription of unrearranged immunoglobulin gene segments strongly correlates with their accessibility to the V(D)J recombination machinery. The regulatory mechanisms governing this germ-line transcription are still poorly defined. In order to identify new regulatory elements, we first carried out a detailed characterization of the transcription initiation sites for the J-C germ-line transcripts, using rapid amplification of 5' cDNA ends, assisted by a template switching mechanism at the 5'-end of the RNA. Transcripts were observed that initiated heterogeneously, starting up to 293 (lambda1), 116 bp (lambda2) and 79 bp (lambda3) upstream from the respective Jlambda gene segment. Additional RT-PCR analysis revealed the existence of germ-line transcripts of lambda and also of kappa that initiate even more upstream of these transcription initiation sites, although their frequencies were low. Promoter activity was detected in vitro 5' of Jlambda2, with the minimal promoter activity mapping to the region between positions -35 and -120. In addition, computer analysis allowed the prediction of a nuclear scaffold/matrix attachment (S/MAR) region between the two J-C gene clusters at each hemi-locus. This region between the lambda1/lambda3 clusters binds to the nuclear matrix in vitro, and J-C lambda1 germ-line transcription initiates a short distance downstream from this S/MAR element.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellbiology and Immunobiology, GBF, German Research Centre for Biotechnology, Mascheroder Weg 1, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rühl
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Benham
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bode
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000235:genetics; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D051925:CD79 Antigens; D002460:Cell Line; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions / Q000235:genetics*; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region / Q000235:genetics*; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015530:Nuclear Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D051925:CD79 Antigens; C497882:Cd79a protein, mouse; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell