Tissue Specificity of the Initiation of Immunoglobulin κGene Transcription

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Abstract
The transient transcription of a rearranged mouse Ig .kappa. gene was studied in a monkey fibroblast cell line. The gene was inserted into an SV40 expression vector and the calcium phosphate coprecipitation method was used for transfection. The transcripts were correctly spliced; transcription was initiated within the vector and not at the correct site 23-26 bp (base pairs) upstream of the gene, irrespective of the length of the upstream sequences (90, 160, 370 and 870 bp) in the plasmid constructs. Accurately initiated transcripts were observed when a plasmid containing the .kappa. gene with 870 bp of its upstream sequence was introduced into a lymphoid cell line; the plasmid was constructed from the pSV2-gpt vector and the electric impulse method was used for gene transfer in most experiments. Tissue-specific expression of .kappa. light chain genes in lymphoid cells is depend on the presence of an enhancer element in the J-C intron. Apparently, the sequence elements pd and dc which are located upstream of the leader gene segment also act in a tissue-specific manner and it is the initiation of transcription which is a tissue-specific event.

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