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Address correspondence to Mark S. Schlissel, Div. of Immunology, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley, 439 LSA (#3200), Berkeley, CA 94720. Phone: (510) 643-2462; Fax: (510) 642-6845; email: mss{at}uclink4.berkeley.edu
Mice deficient for the B cellrestricted transcription factor Pax5 show a defect in the VH to DJH rearrangement step of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene assembly even though the expression of the V(D)J recombinase is not diminished in Pax5-/- proB cells. To investigate whether Pax5 is limiting for VH to DJH rearrangement, we generated transgenic mice which express Pax5 in developing thymocytes. We show that enforced expression of Pax5 in thymocytes results in a partial block in T cell development due to defective pre-TCR signaling in ß-selection. Moreover, our results demonstrate that expression of Pax5 in early thymocytes is sufficient to induce VH to DJH rearrangements in CD4+CD8+ T cells and lead us to suggest that Pax5 may play a direct role in the lineage-specific regulation of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement.
Key Words: lymphocyte development V(D)J recombination gene expression regulation transgenesis immunoglobulin
Abbreviations used in this paper: BSAP, B cellrestricted transcription factor Pax5; DN, CD4/CD8 double negative T cells; DP, CD4/CD8 double positive T cells; IgHC, Ig heavy chain; IgLC, Ig light chain; RSS, recombination signal sequence; LM, ligation-mediated.
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