Extinction of an immunoglobulin κ promoter in cell hybrids is mediated by the octamer motif and correlates with suppression of Oct-2 expression

Abstract When immunoglobulin-expressing B cells are fused with fibroblasts, immunoglobulin expression is rapidly and selectively suppressed. Here we demonstrate that the conserved octamer motif of a κ light chain gene promoter plays a crucial role in mediating this "extinction" phenomenon. Replacement of this octamer site by an Sp1 or NF1 binding site is sufficient to bypass extinction. Furthermore, in early cell hybrids, immunoglobulin suppression is correlated with absence of the cell-specific transcription factor Oct-2 and its transcripts. Such hybrids cannot support transcription of a transiently introduced reporter plasmid, driven by an octamer-containing promoter, unless an expression vector encoding Oct-2 is cotransfected. Transfection of the same Oct-2 expression vector into hybrid cells is also sufficient to "reactivate" an integrated κ promoter construct. Thus, our data further establish the role of Oct-2 for immunoglobulin transcription and show that in B cell × fibroblast hybrids, the lack of a necessary cell-specific transcription factor is involved in the extinction of immunoglobulin expression.