A reappraisal of evidence for probabilistic models of allelic exclusion

B cell development requires the coordinated rearrangement of Ig heavy (IgH) and light chain loci (IgL). Most mature B cells express a single B cell receptor of unique specificity, and a central question in immunology concerns the mechanisms that prevent the productive rearrangement of >1 IgH and IgL allele per cell. Probabilistic models of allelic exclusion maintain that simultaneous rearrangement of both alleles is rare, because the likelihood of undergoing rearrangement is low for a given Ig allele. Strong support for this idea came from studies in which a GFP marker was inserted into the Igk locus. In this system, the probability of high-level germ-line transcription and subsequent locus rearrangement appeared to be low in pre-B cells. Readdressing the validity of GFP expression as a reporter for the level of germ-line transcription, we found a striking discordance between GFP transcript and protein levels at the pre-B cell stage, which is explained at least in part by the developmentally regulated usage of 2 alternative Igk-J germ-line promoters. These results question the validity of the kappa-GFP system as evidence for probabilistic models of allelic exclusion.