Abstract
This chapter discusses recent advances in understanding the regulatory elements that control heavy and light chain immunoglobulin (Ig) gene transcription. It also considers the specific proteins that bind to the regulatory elements and how these elements function within the context of B-cell development. Ig genes are expressed only in B-cells and are differentially expressed at different stages of B-cell development, their regulation allows mechanisms of both tissue and stage specificity to be explored. Ig gene transcription provides a useful paradigm for understanding general mechanisms of gene regulation in eukaryotes. Ig gene transcription is critically important because of its involvement in mechanisms for humoral immunity: Variable (V), Diversity (D), Joining (J) recombination, isotype class switching, and somatic hypermutation of V genes. The chapter also presents a summary of consensus sequences of established protein binding sites in Ig light and heavy chain genes, and description of transcriptional regulators affecting Ig gene transcription.
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