Binding of Ikaros to germline Ig heavy chain gamma1 and epsilon promoters.
Immunoglobulin (Ig) class switching occurs in activated B cells and results in production of antigen-specific IgA, IgE or IgG. It involves a DNA recombination event and is partly regulated by germline (GL) immunoglobulin heavy chain promoters. Ikaros is an abundant nuclear protein expressed in hematopoietic cells. Many different functions have been ascribed to Ikaros, such as transcriptional activation or repression, cell cycle control and tumor suppression. A typical feature of Ikaros is its expression in large clusters in the nucleus of activated lymphocytes. We give evidence that Ikaros can bind to several sites in the germline gamma1 and epsilon immunoglobulin heavy chain promoters, in a cooperative manner. Using a promoter reporter assay, we found evidence that Ikaros can suppress germline gamma1 and epsilon promoter activity in a B cell line. When a mutated non-DNA-binding form of Ikaros was introduced into primary activated B cells by retrovirus transduction, the endogenous Ikaros clusters were disrupted. In spite of this, there was no effect on transcription or Ig class switching. The data are discussed in relation to the different hypotheses for the function of Ikaros.
Ström
Lena
L
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institute, Box 285, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Lundgren
Mats
M
Severinson
Eva
E
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D051740:Ikaros Transcription Factor; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching; D007139:Immunoglobulin epsilon-Chains / Q000235:genetics; D007142:Immunoglobulin gamma-Chains / Q000235:genetics; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D018448:Models, Immunological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014161:Transduction, Genetic
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007139:Immunoglobulin epsilon-Chains; D007142:Immunoglobulin gamma-Chains; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C497238:Zfpn1a1 protein, mouse; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D051740:Ikaros Transcription Factor; D004247:DNA