Transcriptional control of MHC class II antigen expression on mouse T cell lines

We have analysed the factors which regulate MHC class II expression in mouse T cell lines. Two such lines, BW 5147 and PLT-24.2, were used in this study. Using 5-azacytidine (5 AzaC) we have shown that hypomethylation of DNA can induce class II antigen synthesis in BW 5147. The expression of class II in PLT-24.2 cells seems to be under a different control mechanism. Southern blot analysis of I-A beta gene in PLT-24.2 suggests that the expression of class II in this cell line is probably the outcome of a gene rearrangement. We hypothesise that insertion of viral long terminal repeats (LTR) next to the class II genes in transformed T cell lines can act as a promoter for the expression of class II antigens.