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The Journal of Immunology, 2002, 168: 3369-3375.
Copyright © 2002 by The American Association of Immunologists

Bob1 (OCA-B/OBF-1) Differential Transactivation of the B Cell-Specific B29 (Ig{beta}) and mb-1 (Ig{alpha}) Promoters1

Cindy Sue Malone and Randolph Wall2

Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The B29 (Ig{beta}) and mb-1 (Ig{alpha}) gene products are B cell-specific essential components of the B cell receptor that are coexpressed at all stages of B cell differentiation, with the exception of plasma cells, which lack mb-1 expression. Transcription of both genes is governed by a similar cassette of interactive transcription factor-binding elements, including octamer motifs, in TATA-less promoters. In this study, we show the B cell-specific B29 gene promoter is transactivated in B and non-B cells by cotransfection with the B cell-specific octamer cofactor gene, Bob1 (OCA-B/OBF-1). The expression of Bob1 is also sufficient to override the silencing effects of the B29 silencer. This indicates that Bob1 plays a critical role in B cell-specific B29 promoter expression. In contrast, coexpression of Bob1 had no effect on mb-1 promoter activity. Bob1 transactivation only occurs with select octamer sequences that have an adenosine at position 5 (ATGCAAAT). The B29 promoter conforms to this consensus octamer motif, while the mb-1 promoter octamer motif does not. Octamer motif swapping between B29 and mb-1 promoters renders B29 unresponsive to Bob1 transactivation and makes mb-1 competent for Bob1 transactivation, thereby indicating that the B29 octamer motif is solely responsible for Bob1 interaction. Additionally, the mb-1 construct containing the B29 octamer motif is expressed in a plasmacytoma cell line, while the wild-type mb-1 promoter is not. Bob1 transactivation of B29 and the lack of this transactivation of mb-1 account for the differential expression of B29 and mb-1 in terminally differentiated plasma cells.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Bob1 (OCA-B, OBF-1) (1, 2, 3, 4) is a B cell-specific coactivator of the octamer family members, Oct-1 and Oct-2 (1, 5). While Oct-1 and Oct-2 bind a variety of octamer motifs, the Bob1-Oct-1/Oct-2 complex binds only a select subset of these motifs. Bob1 interaction with Oct-1/Oct-2 and DNA (Bob1-POU-DNA complex) is dependent on the octamer motif sequence, specifically containing an adenine at position 5 of the octamer motif (ATGCAAAT). Octamer motifs containing a thymine at position 5 do not recruit the Bob1-POU-DNA ternary complex (6, 7). In contrast, octamer motifs that contain an adenine at position 5, but also contain a thymine at position 6 (ATGCATAT) do not recruit the Bob1-POU-DNA ternary complex (8). Furthermore, only a subset of the Bob1-POU-bound promoters is actually transactivated by this interaction. There are conflicting reports as to whether the 5' and 3' sequences flanking the octamer motif affect or influence the Bob1-POU-DNA complex (7, 8). Additionally, the TATA element in the promoters of Bob1-transactivated genes has been implicated as a contributing element in the action of the Bob1-Oct-1/2 complex (1).

Bob1 is essential for normal patterns of Ig expression such that Bob1-/- mice are crippled in their Ag-dependent responses, but show normal Ag-independent responses. Hence, Bob1 is dispensable for normal, Ag-independent B cell differentiation and B cell receptor gene expression, but is essential for Ag-dependent maturation of B cells. Specifically, the proliferative response to surface IgM cross-linking is severely impaired, as is the production of secondary Ig isotypes due to the reduced levels of transcription from normally switched Ig H chain loci (9, 10, 11).

The B29 (Ig{beta}) gene is strictly B cell specific and expressed at all stages of B cell differentiation (12). The mb-1 gene is also B cell specific and is expressed at all stages of B cell development, except the plasma cell stage (13). The products of the B29 and mb-1 genes are essential components of the B cell receptor and play critical roles in B cell development (reviewed in Refs. 14, 15, 16). Both B29 and mb-1 gene transcription is controlled by TATA-less promoters containing almost identical cassettes of interactive transcription factor-binding elements that collectively impart B cell-specific expression, including essential octamer motifs (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23). Additionally, the B29 promoter activity is modulated by three upstream silencer elements; FROG, TOAD, and the A + T-rich octamer-binding motif that coordinately act to govern B29 gene expression (24, 25). In this study, we show that the B29 promoter is transactivated in B and non-B cells by concomitant expression of the octamer cofactor gene, Bob1. We also show that the mb-1 promoter is not transactivated by Bob1 under identical conditions. This differential responsiveness was shown to be controlled by the octamer motifs in the two promoters. Together, these data suggest a role for Bob1 in determining the differential expression of B29 and mb-1 in plasma cells.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Cell culture conditions

All cell lines were propagated in RPMI 1640 supplemented with sodium pyruvate (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD), nonessential amino acids (Life Technologies), 50 µM 2-ME (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO), 5 mM glutamine (Sigma-Aldrich), and 5% FCS (Gemini Scientific, Tarzana, CA).

Plasmid construction and mutagenesis

B29 promoter constructs were B29 promoters introduced into pCAT basic (Promega, Madison, WI), as described (17, 24, 25, 26) or B29 promoters from -164 to +32 in relation to the start of transcription introduced into SacI-HindIII of pGL3 basic (Promega). mb-1 promoter constructs were mb-1 promoters introduced into pCAT basic (Promega), as described (26), or mb-1 promoters from -252 to +48 in relation to the start of transcription introduced into HindIII of pGL3 basic (Promega). Bob1 construct (27) was kindly provided by M. Peterlin (San Francisco, CA). Mutagenesis of the B29 and mb-1 octamer motifs was performed with the Quik Change kit (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA), as described (17, 24, 25, 26). Octamer motif swapping between B29 and mb-1 was performed by mutagenesis using the Quik Change kit (Stratagene) and the following oligonucleotides and their complements: 5'-GGGTCTCAATTTGCCATGGCAGGAAG-3'-B29 and 5'-GCCCACACATATGCAAATAAAGGGCC-3'-mb-1.

Transfections, CAT assays, and luciferase assays

M12 B cell line was transfected by the DEAE-dextran method, as described (28), using 5 µg chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT)3 plasmid and 5 µg pRSV-luciferase plasmid, or 10 µg pGL3 plasmid and 5 µg pRL SV40 plasmid. BW5147 T cell and J558L plasmacytoma cell lines were transfected by electroporation, as described (29), using 5 µg CAT plasmid and 5 µg pRSV-luciferase plasmid, or 10 µg pGL3 plasmid and 5 µg pRL SV40 plasmid. NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell line was transfected by the SuperFect (Stratagene) method using 5 µg CAT plasmid, and 5 µg pRSV-luciferase. Bob1 construct (27) was used in transfections as 5, 10, or 20 µg, as described in the figures. Total amounts of DNA transfected were equalized by the addition of pBluescript in samples that do not include Bob1 expression construct DNA. All transfections were harvested 40–48 h posttransfection. For pCAT constructs, extracts were prepared and CAT assays were performed, as described previously (17), with the exception of quantification by PhosphorImager (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, CA) analysis. Results were normalized to pRSV-luciferase values. For pGL3 constructs, dual luciferase assays were performed as described in the Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega). All transfection values are ± SD of at least three transfections using at least two preparations of DNA. Values of p were calculated by the Student two-sided t test.

EMSA

Oct-1 and Oct-2 in vitro translate was prepared using the TNT quick coupled reticulocyte lysate system (Promega). EMSA was preformed as described (17) using 2 µl in vitro translate. EMSA probes were double-stranded oligonucleotides 5' end labeled with [{gamma}-32P]ATP and purified by Microspin G25 columns (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, NJ). EMSA complementary double-stranded oligonucleotide probes were as follows: 5'-CCTGCCATGCAAATTGAGAC-3' (B29OCT); 5'-CCTGCCATGCAAcgTGAGAC-3' (B29mOCT); 5'-CCTGCCATGgCAAATTGAGAC-3' (B29(mb-1OCT)); 5'-CCACACATATGGCAAATAAAGGGCC-3' (mb-1OCT); 5'-CCACACATATGGCAAgcAAAGGGCC-3' (mb-1 mOCT); and 5'-CCACACATATGCAAATAAAGGGCC-3' (mb-1(B29OCT)). Underlines represent octamer consensus.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Ectopic expression of Bob1 specifically increases activity of the B29 promoter through the octamer motif in B cells

B29 promoter activity is dependent on a functional octamer motif, as there is significantly reduced transcriptional activity from the B29 minimal promoter when this site is destroyed by mutagenesis (17). This critical B29 octamer motif matches the consensus for Oct-1/2-Bob1-DNA ternary complex formation because it contains the essential "A" in position 5 of the octamer consensus (6, 7).

Transient transfections of M12 B cells with the wild-type B29 promoter (-164) and the B29 -164 promoter with a mutated octamer motif (-164 mOCT) were compared with transient transfections of the identical constructs along with increasing concentrations of a Bob1 expression construct. Fig. 1GoA shows that the addition of Bob1 significantly increased (up to 10-fold) the expression of the wild-type B29 (-164) in B cells (p < 0.05) but did not affect the expression of the variant B29 (-164 mOCT) construct that cannot interact with octamer factors (17). These data suggest that the Bob1 transactivation effect is exerted specifically through the octamer motif in the B29 -164 promoter.



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FIGURE 1. Bob1 transactivates the B29 promoter (-164) in B cells, T cells, and fibroblasts. Transient transfections of B29 promoter constructs with and without cotransfection of Bob1 were conducted in the M12 B cell line (A), BW5147 T cell line (B), and NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell line (C). The activity of each construct is expressed as the fold activation over the promoterless pCAT basic construct. Increasing amounts of Bob1 expression construct (5, 10, and 20 µg) were added to transient transfections of the B29 promoter (-164) and the B29 promoter with a mutated octamer motif (-164 mOCT), as indicated. CAT activities are RSV-luciferase normalized and are the average ± SD of at least four independent transfections using two preparations of DNA. A, The -164 value was significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p < 0.001). Values significantly higher than -164 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob 5 µg, p < 0.001; for -164/Bob 10 µg, p < 0.002; and for -164/Bob 20 µg, p < 0.05. Values for -164 mOCT/Bob 5 µg, -164 mOCT/Bob 10 µg, and -164 mOCT/Bob 20 µg were not significantly higher than -164 mOCT (p > 0.05). B, The -164 values were not significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p > 0.05). Values significantly higher than -164 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob 5 µg, p < 0.05; for -164/Bob 10 µg, p < 0.05; and for -164/Bob 20 µg, p < 0.005. Values for -164 mOCT/Bob 5 µg, -164 mOCT/Bob 10 µg, and -164 mOCT/Bob 20 µg were not significantly higher than -164 mOCT (p > 0.05). C, The -164 values were not significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p > 0.05). Values significantly higher than -164 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob 5 µg, p < 0.01; for -164/Bob 10 µg, p < 0.01; and for -164/Bob 20 µg, p < 0.001. Values for -164 mOCT/Bob 5 µg, -164 mOCT/Bob 10 µg, and -164 mOCT/Bob 20 µg were not significantly higher than -164 mOCT (p > 0.05).

 
Bob1 transactivates the B29 promoter specifically through the octamer motif in non-B cells

We next asked whether the concordant expression of Bob1 could transactivate the B29 promoter in non-B cells and break the B cell specificity of the promoter. Fig. 1Go, B and C, shows that the inclusion of the Bob1 expression construct significantly (up to 5-fold) increased expression of the wild-type B29 (-164) promoter over its negligible expression in transfections of BW5147 T cells and NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Again, this transactivation was octamer motif dependent, as the B29 octamer mutant (-164 mOCT) promoter showed no increase in activity with the addition of Bob1 in T cells (Fig. 1GoB) or fibroblasts (Fig. 1GoC).

Bob1 transactivation overrides the silencing effects of the TOAD, FROG, and A + T-rich motifs in the B29 promoter

Expression from the B29 promoter was previously shown to be governed by three independent, but cooperative upstream silencer elements that function in B cells as well as in non-B cells (24, 25). We used our cotransfection system to determine whether Bob1 would transactivate B29 promoter constructs containing the TOAD, FROG, and A + T-rich silencer elements. Fig. 2Go shows the effects of Bob1 expression on the B29 (-354) construct containing the TOAD silencer element and the B29 (-565) construct containing the TOAD, FROG, and A + T-rich silencer elements in comparison with these constructs alone in M12 B cells (dark stippled bars). These results are also directly compared with the effects of Bob1 on the wild-type B29 promoter (-164) and on the B29 octamer mutant (-164 mOCT) (Fig. 2Go). Cotransfection of Bob1 with both the B29 (-354) and (-565) silencer constructs resulted in a significant increase in activity (Fig. 2Go, compare -354 with -354/Bob; and compare -565 with -565/Bob). These Bob1-transactivated promoter activities (-354/Bob and -565/Bob) are not significantly different from the B29 (-164) promoter construct (Fig. 2Go).



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FIGURE 2. Bob1 transactivation overrides the silencing effects of the B29 silencer elements in B and T cells. Transient transfections of B29 promoter constructs with and without cotransfection of Bob1 were conducted in the M12 B cell line (dark hatched bars) and BW5147 T cell line (light hatched bars). The activity of each construct is expressed as the fold activation over the promoterless pCAT basic construct. A total of 10 µg Bob1 expression construct was added to transient transfections of the B29 promoter (-164), the B29 promoter with a mutated octamer motif (-164 mOCT), the B29 promoter containing the TOAD silencer (-354), the B29 promoter containing the TOAD, FROG, and A + T-rich silencers (-565), the B29 promoter containing the TOAD, FROG, and A + T-rich silencers with a mutated octamer motif (-565 mOCT), and the B29 promoter containing the TOAD, FROG, and A + T-rich silencers with a mutated A + T-rich motif (-565 mA + T). CAT activities are RSV-luciferase normalized and are the average ± SD of at least six independent transfections using two preparations of DNA. For the M12 B cell line, the -164 value was significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p < 0.001). Values significantly higher than their counterparts transfected without Bob1 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob, p < 0.01; for -354/Bob, p < 0.02; for -565/Bob, p < 0.001; and for -565 mA + T/Bob, p < 0.02. The value for -565 mA + T was significantly higher than -565 (p < 0.001). For the BW5147 T cell line, the -164 value was not significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p > 0.05). Values significantly higher than their counterparts transfected without Bob1 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob, p < 0.001; for -354/Bob, p < 0.05; for -565/Bob, p < 0.001; and for -565 mA + T/Bob, p < 0.02.

 
One of the 5' silencers, the B29 A + T-rich silencer element, is a degenerate octamer motif and is bound by Oct-1 and Oct-2 (25). This degenerate octamer site does not fit the classic octamer consensus motif, and therefore cannot be analyzed by the Bob1 rules for interaction. We tested two different constructs to illustrate that Bob1 did not transactivate through the A + T-rich octamer motif. Fig. 2Go shows that when the B29 (-164) promoter octamer motif was mutated within the B29 (-565) promoter construct (-565 mOCT), the addition of Bob1 expression construct did not transactivate this construct. These data suggest that the A + T-rich octamer motif alone was not sufficient for Bob1 transactivation of this construct. In contrast, the complementary construct, wild-type B29 (-164) promoter octamer motif and mutated A + T-rich octamer motif in the context of the B29 (-565) promoter (-565 mA + T), was transactivated by Bob1 to an extent equivalent to the wild-type B29 (-565) construct (Fig. 2Go). These data show that Bob1 transactivation is not mediated through the A + T-rich octamer motif. The B29 (-565) promoter construct with both octamer sites mutated showed no significant difference from the B29 (-164 mOCT) or the B29 (-565 mOCT) promoter constructs when Bob1 expression constructs were cotransfected (data not shown).

The identical constructs were transfected into BW5147 T cells to determine whether the coexpression of Bob1 was sufficient to override the B29 silencer element effects in T cells (Fig. 2Go, light hatched bars). Fig. 2Go shows that Bob1 transactivated the B29 (-354) and B29 (-565) promoter constructs in T cells, breaking the B cell specificity of the B29 promoter. These levels of Bob1 transactivation are significantly less than the transactivation seen with the B29 (-164) promoter (Fig. 2Go). Again, mutation of the B29 (-164) octamer motif in the B29 (-565) promoter (-565 mOCT) did not allow transactivation of this construct by Bob1, and mutation of the A + T-rich octamer motif had no effect on the transactivation potential of the B29 (-565) promoter (-565 mA + T) in T cells.

Bob1 does not transactivate mb-1 promoter activity in either B or non-B cells

The mb-1 minimal promoter is strikingly similar to the B29 -164 promoter (see Fig. 7Go), and is also strongly dependent on its octamer motif for maximal activity (26). Unlike the B29 octamer motif, the mb-1 octamer motif does not have the essential sequence required for Bob1 interaction. Specifically, the mb-1 octamer motif lacks an adenine at position 5 of the octamer consensus (see Fig. 7Go). We tested the mb-1 promoter in our Bob1 transactivation system to determine whether the mb-1 octamer motif would interact with Bob1 and result in transactivation of the promoter. Fig. 3Go shows that Bob1 did not transactivate the mb-1 promoter in either B cells (M12 B cell line; Fig. 3Go, dark hatched bars) or T cells (BW5147 T cell line; Fig. 3Go, light hatched bars) when increasing amounts of the Bob1 expression construct were cotransfected with the wild-type mb-1 promoter (mb-1) and mutant octamer mb-1 promoter (mb-1 mOCT) constructs. In B cells, the wild-type mb-1 promoter showed significant activity over pCAT basic, while the addition of Bob1 did not show a significant increase in expression of this construct (Fig. 3Go). The mutant octamer mb-1 promoter showed no significant activity above pCAT basic, and the addition of Bob1 did not change the expression level (Fig. 3Go). In T cells, neither the wild-type mb-1 promoter nor the mutant octamer mb-1 promoter showed activity above pCAT basic (Fig. 3Go). The addition of Bob1 to either of these constructs did not result in any significant transactivation of these promoters (Fig. 3Go). These data are consistent with the rules for Bob1 interaction and function, and suggest that in our system, Bob1 functions according to its determined specificity.



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FIGURE 7. B29 and mb-1 promoter transcription factor motif comparison. The identical transcription factors control both B29 and mb-1 promoter activity, with the exception of the recruitment of BSAP to the ETS site in the mb-1 promoter and the differential usage of the Bob1 coactivator with the octamer motifs.

 


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FIGURE 3. Bob1 does not transactivate the mb-1 promoter (mb-1) in B cells or T cells. Transient transfections of mb-1 promoter constructs with and without cotransfection of Bob1 were conducted in the M12 B cell line (dark hatched bars) and the BW5147 T cell line (light hatched bars). The activity of each construct is expressed as the fold activation over the promoterless pCAT basic construct. A total of 10 µg Bob1 expression construct was added to transient transfections of the mb-1 minimal promoter (mb-1) and the mb-1 minimal promoter with a mutated octamer motif (mb-1 mOCT), as indicated. CAT activities are RSV-luciferase normalized and are the average ± SD of at least six independent transfections using two preparations of DNA. For the M12 B cell line, the mb-1 value was significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p < 0.001). The value for mb-1/Bob and mb-1 mOCT/Bob was not significantly different from their counterparts transfected without Bob1 (p > 0.05 each). For the BW5147 T cell line, the mb-1 value was not significantly higher than pCAT basic by the Student two-sided t test (p > 0.05). The value for mb-1/Bob and mb-1 mOCT/Bob was not significantly different from their counterparts transfected without Bob1 (p > 0.05 each).

 
Bob1 differential transactivation of the B29 and mb-1 promoters is dictated solely by the octamer consensus sequence

Based on the inability of Bob1 to transactivate the B29-mutated octamer site promoter (-164 mOCT) and the mb-1 promoter (mb-1), we have demonstrated that the Bob1 transactivation activity functions through the octamer consensus sequence (Fig. 1Go). In this study, we directly show that the mb-1 9-bp octamer consensus sequence (ATGGCAAAT), when put into the context of the B29 octamer site (-164(mb-1OCT)), no longer allows Bob1 transactivation of B29 in either B or T cells (Fig. 4Go). In the same way, the B29 8-bp octamer consensus sequence (ATGCAAAT), when put into the context of the mb-1 octamer site (mb-1(B29OCT)), confers Bob1 sensitivity and transactivation to mb-1 in both B and T cells (Fig. 4Go). These data also show that even though the mb-1 octamer site is a functional octamer site based on mutagenesis results (26), the B29 octamer consensus when swapped with the mb-1 consensus (mb-1(B29OCT)) confers more overall activity to the mb-1 promoter (Fig. 4GoA). The opposite is true for mb-1 octamer site placed in the B29 promoter (-164(mb-1OCT)) (Fig. 4GoA). In the context of the B29 sequences (-164(mb-1OCT)), the mb-1 consensus does not appear to function as an octamer motif, as the activity level is similar to that seen for the B29-mutated octamer motif promoter (-164 mOCT) (Fig. 4GoA).



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FIGURE 4. Bob1 differential transactivation of the B29 and mb-1 promoters is dictated solely by the octamer consensus sequence in B cells and T cells. Transient transfections of B29 and mb-1 promoter constructs with and without cotransfection of Bob1 were conducted in the M12 B cell line (A) and BW5147 T cell line (B). The activity of each construct is expressed as the fold activation over the promoterless pGL3 luciferase basic construct. A total of 10 µg Bob1 expression construct was added to transient transfections of the B29 minimal promoter (-164), the B29 minimal promoter with a mutated octamer motif (-164 mOCT), the B29 minimal promoter with the octamer motif replaced with the mb-1 octamer consensus (-164(mb-1OCT)), the mb-1 minimal promoter (mb-1), the mb-1 minimal promoter with a mutated octamer motif (mb-1 mOCT), and the mb-1 minimal promoter with the octamer motif replaced with the B29 octamer consensus (mb-1(B29OCT)), as indicated. B29 and mb-1 promoter luciferase construct values were pRL SV40 normalized and are the average ± SD of at least four independent transfections using two preparations of DNA. A, For the M12 B cell line -164 value and the mb-1 value were significantly higher than pGL3 basic by the Student two-sided t test (p < 0.001). Values significantly higher than their counterparts transfected without Bob1 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob, p < 0.02; and for mb-1(B29OCT)/Bob1, p < 0.05. The values for -164 mOCT/Bob, -164(mb-1OCT)/Bob, mb-1/Bob, and mb-1 mOCT/Bob were not significantly higher than their counterparts transfected without Bob1 (p > 0.05 each). The value for mb-1(B29OCT) was significantly higher than mb-1 (p < 0.001). B, For the BW5147 T cell line, values significantly higher than their counterparts transfected without Bob1 are denoted by an asterisk. For -164/Bob, p < 0.05; and for mb-1(B29OCT)/Bob1, p < 0.02. The values for -164 mOCT/Bob, -164(mb-1OCT)/Bob, mb-1/Bob, and mb-1 mOCT/Bob were not significantly higher than their counterparts transfected without Bob1 (p > 0.05 each). The value for mb-1(B29OCT) was significantly higher than mb-1 (p < 0.01).

 
EMSAs comparing the wild-type B29 octamer motif and the B29 with the mb-1 octamer consensus motif (-164(mb-1OCT)) show that the -164(mb-1OCT) oligonucleotide probe shows less binding to in vitro translated (IVT) Oct-1 as compared with wild-type B29 octamer oligonucleotide probes (Fig. 5GoA), possibly reflecting intrinsic differences in the B29 and mb-1 octamer sites. In contrast, the mb-1 with the B29 octamer consensus motif (mb-1(B29OCT)) showed greater binding to IVT Oct-1 than the wild-type mb-1 octamer motif (Fig. 5GoB). This result may explain why the mb-1(B29OCT) construct has higher activity in transient transfections than the wild-type mb-1 promoter construct (Fig. 4Go).



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FIGURE 5. Swapping the B29 and mb-1 octamer consensus sites results in altered Oct-1 binding in EMSA. Double-stranded oligonucleotides corresponding to the octamer consensus sequence swaps between B29 and mb-1 from constructs shown in Fig. 4Go and their wild-type counterpart double-stranded oligonucleotides were end labeled and used in EMSA. A, Wild-type B29 octamer motif probe (-164 OCT, left panel) compared with the mb-1 9-bp octamer consensus sequence in the context of the 20-bp B29 octamer motif probe (-164(mb-1OCT), right panel) taken from the same exposure of the identical gel. Lane 1, The B29 octamer motif probe (-164 OCT) alone; lanes 2–7, the B29 octamer motif probe (-164 OCT) incubated with 2 µl IVT Oct-1. Probe was also coincubated with 500-fold molar excess of unlabeled B29 octamer motif (-164 OCT, lane 3), the mb-1 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the B29 octamer site probe (-164(mb-1OCT), lane 4), mutant B29 octamer motif (-164 mOCT, lane 5), mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1 OCT, lane 6), and the B29 octamer consensus site in the context of the mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1(B29OCT), lane 7). Lane 8, The mb-1 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the B29 octamer site probe (-164(mb-1Oct)) alone; lanes 9–14, the mb-1 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the B29 octamer site probe (-164(mb-1OCT)) incubated with 2 µl IVT Oct-1. Probe was also coincubated with 500-fold molar excess of unlabeled B29 octamer motif (-164 OCT, lane 10), the mb-1 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the B29 octamer site probe (-164(mb-1OCT), lane 11), mutant B29 octamer motif (-164 mOCT, lane 12), mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1 OCT, lane 13), and the B29 octamer consensus site in the context of the mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1(B29OCT), lane 14). B, Wild-type mb-1 octamer motif probe (mb-1 OCT, left panel) compared with the B29 8-bp octamer consensus sequence in the context of the 25-bp mb-1 octamer motif probe (mb-1(B29OCT), right panel) taken from the same exposure of the identical gel. Lane 1, The wild-type mb-1 octamer motif probe (mb-1 OCT, left panel) alone; lanes 2–7, the mb-1 octamer motif probe (mb-1 OCT) incubated with 2 µl IVT Oct-1. Probe was also coincubated with 500-fold molar excess of unlabeled mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1 OCT, lane 3), B29 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the mb-1 octamer site probe (mb-1(B29OCT), lane 4), mutant mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1 mOCT, lane 5), B29 octamer motif (-164 OCT, lane 6), and mb-1 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the B29 octamer site probe (-164(mb-1OCT), lane 7). Lane 8, The B29 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the mb-1 octamer site probe (mb-1(B29OCT)) alone; lanes 9–14, the B29 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the mb-1 octamer site probe (mb-1(B29OCT) incubated with 2 µl IVT Oct-1. Probe was also coincubated with 500-fold molar excess of unlabeled mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1 OCT, lane 10), B29 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the mb-1 octamer site probe (mb-1(B29OCT), lane 11), mutant mb-1 octamer motif (mb-1 mOCT, lane 12), B29 octamer motif (-164 OCT, lane 13), and mb-1 octamer consensus sequence in the context of the B29 octamer site probe (-164(mb-1OCT), lane 14). The specifically formed Oct-1 complex is denoted by an arrow. Free, Free probe.

 
Bob1 responsiveness determines promoter activity in terminally differentiated plasma cells

Previous studies have shown that the mb-1 promoter has no activity in transient transfection of plasma cell lines (19, 23), while B29 has high activity (18). We tested our octamer site swap constructs (-164(mb-1OCT) and mb-1(B29OCT)) in J558L plasmacytoma cell line to determine whether the change in the octamer sites alone would change the expression patterns of the B29 and mb-1 promoters. Fig. 6Go shows that the Bob1-responsive B29 octamer site conferred activity onto the mb-1 promoter (mb-1(B29OCT)) in plasmacytoma cells. Additionally, the Bob1-unresponsive mb-1 octamer site shut down expression of the B29 promoter (-164(mb-1OCT)) in plasmacytoma cells. These data suggest that the octamer site alone controls differential expression of the B29 and mb-1 promoters in terminally differentiated plasma cells. Interestingly, ectopic Bob1 expression had no significant effect on the activity of any of the B29 or mb-1 promoter constructs in plasma cells (Fig. 6Go). The increased level of endogenous Bob1 expression in J558L (4-fold over M12 Bob1 expression) could preclude any further effect by ectopically expressed Bob1 (data not shown) (30).



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FIGURE 6. Bob1 responsiveness determines promoter activity in terminally differentiated plasma cells. Transient transfections of B29 and mb-1 promoter constructs with and without cotransfection of Bob1 were conducted in the J558L plasmacytoma cell line. The activity of each construct is expressed as the fold activation over the promoterless pGL3 luciferase basic construct. A total of 10 µg Bob1 expression construct was added to transient transfections of the B29 minimal promoter (-164), the B29 minimal promoter with a mutated octamer motif (-164 mOCT), the B29 minimal promoter with the octamer motif replaced with the mb-1 octamer consensus (-164(mb-1OCT)), the mb-1 minimal promoter (mb-1), the mb-1 minimal promoter with a mutated octamer motif (mb-1 mOCT), and the mb-1 minimal promoter with the octamer motif replaced with the B29 octamer consensus (mb-1(B29OCT)), as indicated. B29 and mb-1 promoter luciferase construct values were pRL SV40 normalized and are the average ± SD of at least four independent transfections using two preparations of DNA. Values significantly above those for wild-type constructs are denoted with an asterisk. For mb-1(B29OCT), p < 0.01. Wild-type B29 promoter construct (-164) was significantly higher than basic (p < 0.001).

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
This study shows that the B29 promoter octamer motif is a target for Bob1 transactivation, while the mb-1 promoter octamer motif is not. Both B29 and mb-1 are TATA-less promoters that rely on a virtually identical cassette of transcription factor motifs for activity (see Fig. 7Go). Early reports of Bob1 specificity suggested a role for the TATA box in controlling which promoters were targets for Bob1 (1). Our data showing transactivation of the TATA-less B29 promoter by Bob1 suggest that other criteria must be responsible for selective Bob1 transactivation in the context of TATA-less promoters.

Our study describes a new mechanism for the differential expression patterns of B29 and mb-1 in B cell development. The B29 gene is expressed throughout B cell development (31), while the mb-1 gene is only expressed through B cell development up to the plasma cell stage (19, 20). An early hypothesis purported that the transcription factor, early B cell factor (EBF), controlled the differential expression of B29 and mb-1 (19, 20). This inference was based on the identical expression profiles of mb-1 and EBF (19, 20, 32, 33), and the apparent lack of interaction of EBF and the B29 promoter (17). Recently, it was shown that EBF did interact with the B29 promoter (18), and that B29 is not expressed in EBF-/- knockout mice (34). In light of these discoveries, EBF cannot account for the differential expression of B29 and mb-1. B cell lineage-specific activator protein (BSAP; Pax5) was shown to interact with the mb-1 promoter (21, 22). Like EBF, BSAP is not expressed in terminally differentiated plasma cells (35). Unlike EBF, BSAP does not appear to affect B29 promoter activity because normal levels of B29 expression were seen in BSAP-/- mice (22), and the B29 promoter sequence does not contain a BSAP binding site (17). The lack of BSAP in plasma cells may contribute to the loss of mb-1 expression in addition to the unresponsiveness of the mb-1 promoter to Bob1 transactivation.

The concordant expression of Bob1 and B29 naturally points to a role for Bob1 in B29 gene expression. Our evidence for the differential interaction of Bob1 with the B29 and mb-1 promoters poses a plausible explanation for the continued expression of B29 and for the extinction of mb-1 in the last stage of B cell development. Our study showed that Bob1 transactivated the B29 promoter, while Bob1 was unable to affect expression from the mb-1 promoter. These data support our proposal that while a lack of BSAP may contribute to the extinction of mb-1, the presence of Bob1 is responsible for the continued expression of B29 in plasma cells. Data showing that Bob1 promoter expression and Bob1 protein levels are highest in plasma cells (30) support our proposal that Bob1 transactivation supports ongoing B29, but not mb-1 gene expression in plasma cells.

Our data specifically showed that Bob1 was a potent transactivator of B29 in the lymphoid and nonlymphoid cell types tested, and that this effect was mediated specifically through the octamer motif. Equal amounts of Bob1 expression construct showed no effect on the activity of the mb-1 promoter, even though the mb-1 octamer site is functional and has been shown to be required for maximal mb-1 promoter activity (26). We directly showed that the sequences responsible for Bob1 transactivation lie within the octamer consensus sequence. The B29 and mb-1 octamer consensus site swap constructs showed that Bob1 transactivation is mediated by the B29 consensus octamer site (ATGCAAAT), regardless of whether the sequences outside this site were derived from B29 or mb-1. Additionally, the octamer swap constructs demonstrated that the B29 consensus octamer site controlled the plasma cell-specific activity of the promoters; the mb-1 promoter alone had little activity in plasma cells, while the mb-1 with the B29 octamer consensus site (mb-1(B29OCT)) had significantly greater activity than the wild-type mb-1 promoter. In fact, the mb-1(B29OCT) promoter had activity that was not significantly different from the wild-type B29 promoter in plasma cells. Furthermore, the B29 with the Bob1-nonresponsive mb-1 octamer consensus site (B29(mb-1OCT)) had little activity in plasma cells. These data support our proposal that Bob1 expression in plasma cells controls the differential expression of the B29 and mb-1 promoters.

Our data showing that Bob1 overrides the effects of the B29 silencer elements in B cells and non-B cells suggest that Bob1 also plays a critical role in regulating B cell expression of the B29 gene. The B29 silencer elements have been shown to govern B29 expression, but not control cell type specificity because they are equally active in both B and non-B cells (24). The expression of Bob1 may act to negate the effects of the B29 silencers in B cells in which Bob1 and B29 are expressed. In this mechanism, Bob1 would act as an antisilencer countering the 5' B29 silencers, thereby controlling cell type specificity of the B29 gene and restricting B29 expression to B cells only. This combination of cis-acting silencers and a trans-acting transcriptional coactivator functioning as an antisilencer represents a novel mechanism for controlling B cell gene specificity.


    Acknowledgments
 
We thank Melinda S. Gordon, Lisa Patrone, Denise Gangadharan, and Francesca Fike for technical assistance.


    Footnotes
 
1 This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants CA85841 and GM40185 and University of California Amgen STAR Biotechnology Project Grant S96-02 (to R.W.). C.S.M. was supported by Public Health Service National Service Awards 5-T32-CA009120-25 and T32-CA09056. Back

2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Randolph Wall, University of California School of Medicine, 539 Boyer Hall, 611 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095. E-mail address: rwall{at}mbi.ucla.edu Back

3 Abbreviations used in this paper: CAT, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase; BSAP, B cell lineage-specific activator protein; EBF, early B cell factor; IVT, in vitro translated. Back

Received for publication August 30, 2001. Accepted for publication January 31, 2002.


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 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
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