SUMMARY The immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene locus undergoes radial re-positioning within the nucleus and locus contraction in preparation for gene recombination. We demonstrate that IgH locus conformation involves two levels of chromosomal compaction. At the first level the locus folds into several multi-looped domains. One such domain at the 3′ end of the locus requires an enhancer, Eμ; two other domains at the 5′ end are Eμ-independent. At the second level, these domains are brought into spatial proximity by Eμ-dependent interactions with specific sites within the VH region. Eμ is also required for radial re-positioning of IgH alleles indicating its essential role in large scale chromosomal movements in developing lymphocytes. Our observations provide a comprehensive view of the conformation of IgH alleles in pro-B cells and the mechanisms by which it is established.

The first steps of murine immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) gene recombination take place within a chromosomal domain that contains diversity (D(H)) and joining (J(H)) gene segments, but not variable (V(H)) gene segments. Here we show that the chromatin state of this domain is markedly heterogeneous. Specifically, only 5'- and 3'-most D(H) gene segments carry active chromatin modifications, whereas intervening D(H)s are associated with heterochromatic marks that are maintained by ongoing histone deacetylation. The intervening D(H)s form part of a tandemly repeated sequence that expresses tissue-specific, antisense oriented transcripts. We propose that the intervening D(H) genes are actively suppressed by repeat-induced epigenetic silencing, which is reflected in their infrequent representation in DJ(H) junctions compared to the flanking D(H) genes.

A tissue-specific transcriptional enhancer, Eμ, has been implicated in developmentally regulated recombination and transcription of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene locus. We demonstrate that deleting 220 nucleotides that constitute the core Eμ results in partially active locus, characterized by reduced histone acetylation, chromatin remodeling, transcription, and recombination, whereas other hallmarks of tissue-specific locus activation, such as loss of H3K9 dimethylation or gain of H3K4 dimethylation, are less affected. These observations define Eμ-independent and Eμ-dependent phases of locus activation that reveal an unappreciated epigenetic hierarchy in tissue-specific gene expression.

Immunoglobulin heavy chain (Igh) genes are assembled by sequential rearrangements of diversity (DH) and variable (VH) gene segments. Three critical constraints govern VH recombination. These include timing (VH recombination follows DH recombination), precision (VHs recombine only to DJH junctions) and allele specificity (VH recombination is restricted to DJH recombined alleles). We provide a model for these universal features of VH recombination. Analyses of DJH recombined alleles revealed that DJH junctions were selectively epigenetically marked, became nuclease sensitive and bound RAG proteins, thereby permitting DH-associated recombination signal sequences to initiate the second step of Igh gene assembly. We propose that VH recombination is precise because these changes did not extend to germline DH gene segments located 5′ of the DJH junction.