Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1993 Jun;13(6):3698–3705. doi: 10.1128/mcb.13.6.3698

Negative regulation of immunoglobulin kappa light-chain gene transcription by a short sequence homologous to the murine B1 repetitive element.

K Saksela 1, D Baltimore 1
PMCID: PMC359843  PMID: 8497276

Abstract

B-cell-specific expression of the immunoglobulin kappa light-chain (Ig kappa) gene is in part accomplished by negative regulatory influences. Here we describe a new negatively acting element (termed kappa NE) immediately upstream of the NF-kappa B-binding site in the Ig kappa intronic enhancer. The 27-bp kappa NE sequence is conserved in the corresponding positions in the rabbit and human Ig kappa genes, and the human kappa NE homolog was shown to have a similar negative regulatory activity. Data base searches using the mouse kappa NE sequence revealed a striking homology to murine B1 repetitive sequences. A sequence homologous to kappa NE and B1 was also noted in a previously identified silencer element in the murine T-cell receptor alpha locus. The homologous T-cell receptor alpha locus sequence, but notably not a corresponding 27-bp B1 consensus sequence, showed a negative regulatory potential similar to that of kappa NE. The negative effect of kappa NE by itself was not cell type specific but became so when paired with its 5'-flanking sequence in the Ig kappa enhancer. A short (30-bp) fragment upstream of kappa NE (termed kappa BS) was found to be necessary and sufficient for abolishing the negative effect of kappa NE in B cells. Point mutations in a T-rich motif within the kappa BS sequence allowed the transcriptional repression by kappa NE to be evident in B cells as well as other cells. As suggested by this cell-independent negative activity, proteins binding to the mouse and human kappa NE sequences were identified in all cell types tested.

Full text

PDF
3700

Images in this article

3703Image
on p.3703

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baeuerle P. A., Baltimore D. Activation of DNA-binding activity in an apparently cytoplasmic precursor of the NF-kappa B transcription factor. Cell. 1988 Apr 22;53(2):211–217. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90382-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baniahmad A., Muller M., Steiner C., Renkawitz R. Activity of two different silencer elements of the chicken lysozyme gene can be compensated by enhancer elements. EMBO J. 1987 Aug;6(8):2297–2303. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02504.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dignam J. D., Lebovitz R. M., Roeder R. G. Accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in a soluble extract from isolated mammalian nuclei. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Mar 11;11(5):1475–1489. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.5.1475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dombroski B. A., Mathias S. L., Nanthakumar E., Scott A. F., Kazazian H. H., Jr Isolation of an active human transposable element. Science. 1991 Dec 20;254(5039):1805–1808. doi: 10.1126/science.1662412. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gilman M. Z., Wilson R. N., Weinberg R. A. Multiple protein-binding sites in the 5'-flanking region regulate c-fos expression. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Dec;6(12):4305–4316. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.12.4305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Grosschedl R., Baltimore D. Cell-type specificity of immunoglobulin gene expression is regulated by at least three DNA sequence elements. Cell. 1985 Jul;41(3):885–897. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80069-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Howard B. H., Sakamoto K. Alu interspersed repeats: selfish DNA or a functional gene family? New Biol. 1990 Sep;2(9):759–770. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Laimins L., Holmgren-König M., Khoury G. Transcriptional "silencer" element in rat repetitive sequences associated with the rat insulin 1 gene locus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 May;83(10):3151–3155. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.10.3151. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lenardo M., Pierce J. W., Baltimore D. Protein-binding sites in Ig gene enhancers determine transcriptional activity and inducibility. Science. 1987 Jun 19;236(4808):1573–1577. doi: 10.1126/science.3109035. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Maraia R. J. The subset of mouse B1 (Alu-equivalent) sequences expressed as small processed cytoplasmic transcripts. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Oct 25;19(20):5695–5702. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.20.5695. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Miller J. B. Myoblast diversity in skeletal myogenesis: how much and to what end? Cell. 1992 Apr 3;69(1):1–3. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90111-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Muratani K., Hada T., Yamamoto Y., Kaneko T., Shigeto Y., Ohue T., Furuyama J., Higashino K. Inactivation of the cholinesterase gene by Alu insertion: possible mechanism for human gene transposition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Dec 15;88(24):11315–11319. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.24.11315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nelms K., Hromas R., Van Ness B. Identification of a second inducible DNA-protein interaction in the kappa immunoglobulin enhancer. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Feb 25;18(4):1037–1043. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.4.1037. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Nelms K., Van Ness B. Identification of an octamer-binding site in the human kappa light-chain enhancer. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Jul;10(7):3843–3846. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.7.3843. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pierce J. W., Gifford A. M., Baltimore D. Silencing of the expression of the immunoglobulin kappa gene in non-B cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Mar;11(3):1431–1437. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.3.1431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pierce J. W., Lenardo M., Baltimore D. Oligonucleotide that binds nuclear factor NF-kappa B acts as a lymphoid-specific and inducible enhancer element. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Mar;85(5):1482–1486. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.5.1482. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Quentin Y. Successive waves of fixation of B1 variants in rodent lineage history. J Mol Evol. 1989 Apr;28(4):299–305. doi: 10.1007/BF02103425. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Roesler W. J., Vandenbark G. R., Hanson R. W. Cyclic AMP and the induction of eukaryotic gene transcription. J Biol Chem. 1988 Jul 5;263(19):9063–9066. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Saffer J. D., Thurston S. J. A negative regulatory element with properties similar to those of enhancers is contained within an Alu sequence. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Feb;9(2):355–364. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.2.355. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tomilin N. V., Iguchi-Ariga S. M., Ariga H. Transcription and replication silencer element is present within conserved region of human Alu repeats interacting with nuclear protein. FEBS Lett. 1990 Apr 9;263(1):69–72. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(90)80707-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wallace M. R., Andersen L. B., Saulino A. M., Gregory P. E., Glover T. W., Collins F. S. A de novo Alu insertion results in neurofibromatosis type 1. Nature. 1991 Oct 31;353(6347):864–866. doi: 10.1038/353864a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Weiner A. M., Deininger P. L., Efstratiadis A. Nonviral retroposons: genes, pseudogenes, and transposable elements generated by the reverse flow of genetic information. Annu Rev Biochem. 1986;55:631–661. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.55.070186.003215. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Winoto A., Baltimore D. Alpha beta lineage-specific expression of the alpha T cell receptor gene by nearby silencers. Cell. 1989 Nov 17;59(4):649–655. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90010-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES