Dissociation of Pax-5 from KI and KII sites during κ-chain gene rearrangement correlates with its association with the underphosphorylated form of retinoblastoma

The KI and KII sites play a crucial role in κ-chain gene rearrangement, which was investigated in mice deficient for these sites. Previously, we found that Pax-5 can bind to the KI and KII sites; however, the function of Pax-5 in κ-chain gene rearrangement has not been investigated. Here, we have used an in vitro culture system in which differentiation from pre-B cells to immature B cells is induced by removing IL-7. We showed that, after the induction of differentiation, Pax-5 dissociated from the KI and KII revealed by EMSA analyses, and this dissociation occurred specifically at the KI and KII sites, but not at the Pax-5 binding site, in the CD19 promoter because of a lower binding affinity of Pax-5 for the KI and KII sites. During differentiation induced by removing IL-7, the underphosphorylated form of retinoblastoma preferentially associated with Pax-5, which caused dissociation of Pax-5 from KI and KII sites. These results suggest that the dissociation of Pax-5 from the KI and KII sites is important in the induction of κ-chain gene rearrangement.