| First Author | Dunnick WA | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 173 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 5531-9 |
| PubMed ID | 15494502 | Mgi Jnum | J:93746 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3505642 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.173.9.5531 |
| Citation | Dunnick WA, et al. (2004) Germline transcription and switch recombination of a transgene containing the entire H chain constant region locus: effect of a mutation in a STAT6 binding site in the gamma1 promoter. J Immunol 173(9):5531-9 |
| abstractText | The switch (S) in H chain class is preceded by germline transcription and then mediated by a DNA recombination event. One of the impediments toward understanding the mechanism is the lack of a system in which a recombinant DNA molecule undergoes cytokine-regulated class S recombination. To study class S recombination, we used transgenic mice with a 230-kb bacterial artificial chromosome that included a rearranged VDJ gene and the entire murine H chain constant region locus. We found that both germline transcription and S recombination to the transgenic gamma1 H chain gene were regulated by IL-4 like that of the endogenous genes. In mice with two or more copies of the H chain locus transgene, both germline transcripts and S recombination took place at levels comparable to those from the endogenous loci. We also prepared a version of the transgene with a 4-bp mutation in a STAT6 binding site in the gamma1 promoter region. On the average, this mutation reduced germline transcription by 80%, but did not change the amount of S recombination in vitro. Among both the wild-type and mutant transgenes, we found no significant correlation between the amount of germline transcripts and the amount of S recombination. We infer that the physiologic level of germline transcription of the gamma1 gene is in excess over the amount required for efficient S recombination. |
