IGH analysis in pro-B cells with H3K4me3, H3K4me2, H3K9ac, H3K27me3, Pax5 and CTCF [ChIP-chip]

VH-DJH recombination of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (Igh) locus is temporally and spatially controlled during early B-cell development, and yet no regulatory elements other than the VH gene promoters have been identified throughout the entire 2.5-Mb VH gene cluster. Here we discovered novel regulatory sequences that are interspersed in the distal VH gene region. These conserved repeat elements were characterized by the presence of Pax5-dependent active chromatin, the binding of Pax5, E2A, CTCF and Rad21 as well as by Pax5-dependent antisense transcription in pro-B cells. The Pax5-activated intergenic repeat (PAIR) elements were no longer bound by Pax5 in pre-B and B cells consistent with the loss of antisense transcription, whereas E2A and CTCF interacted with PAIR elements throughout early B-cell development. The pro-B-cell-specific and Pax5-dependent activity of the PAIR elements suggests that they are involved in the regulation of distal VH-DJH recombination at the Igh locus. Analysis of chromatin and TF binding in rag2-/- and pax5-/- rag2-/- pro-B cells. Chip-Chip with one experiment for each antibody, 12 samples.