Abstract
Several functionally important genetic elements (such as the TATA box, mRNA splice sequences, poly(A) addition signal) were first detected as short segments of unexplained sequence homology within non-coding regions of different genes. A short region of unknown sequence in the intron between the human Jκ and Cκ immunoglobulin coding regions was found to be sufficiently homologous to the corresponding segment of the mouse gene to form stable heteroduplexes1. Although no specific function has yet been definitely ascribed to this region (which we call the kappa intron conserved region, or KICR), some functional significance has been inferred from the findings that (1) activation of B lymphocytes induces a DNase hypersensitivity site in this region2,3 and (2) deletions including this region reduce expression of κ genes introduced into lymphoid cells4. To delineate the KICR more precisely and to test the generality of the sequence conservation in a third species, we have sequenced this region of the human and mouse genes and have examined the corresponding region of a recently cloned rabbit κ gene. We find a segment of about 130 base pairs (bp) that shows striking conservation in all three, species, demonstrating homology significantly higher than within the Cκ coding region itself. Two short sequences from the Jκ–Cκ intron that were noted by other investigators to be homologous to proposed ‘enhancer’ sequences both lie within the conserved region.
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Emorine, L., Kuehl, M., Weir, L. et al. A conserved sequence in the immunoglobulin Jκ–Cκ intron: possible enhancer element. Nature 304, 447–449 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/304447a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/304447a0
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