The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II transactivator (CIITA) acts as a master switch to activate expression of the genes required for MHC-II antigen presentation. During B-cell to plasma cell differentiation, MHC-II expression is actively silenced, but the mechanism has been unknown. In plasma cell tumors such as multiple myeloma the repression of MHC-II is associated with the loss of CIITA. We have identified that positive regulatory domain I binding factor 1 (PRDI-BF1), a transcriptional repressor, inhibits CIITA expression in multiple myeloma cell lines. Repression of CIITA depends on the DNA binding activity of PRDI-BF1 and its specific binding site in the CIITA promoter. Deletion of a histone deacetylase recruitment domain in PRDI-BF1 does not inhibit repression of CIITA nor does blocking histone deacetylase activity. This is in contrast to PRDI-BF1 repression of the c-myc promoter. Repression of CIITA requires either the N-terminal acidic and conserved PR motif or the proline-rich domain. PRDI-BF1 has been shown to be a key regulator of B-cell and macrophage differentiation. These findings now indicate that PRDI-BF1 has at least two mechanisms of repression whose function is dependent on the nature of the target promoter. Importantly, PRDI-BF1 is defined as the key molecule in silencing CIITA and thus MHC-II in multiple myeloma cells.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules play a central role in immune responses, and transcription of this family of genes requires the MHC class II transactivator (CIITA). CIITA has four promoters, which are transcribed in a tissue-specific manner. CIITA promoter III is constitutively active in mature B-lymphocytes. This report now describes the minimal 319-base pair promoter region necessary for maximal transcriptional activity in B-lymphocytes. Ultraviolet light and dimethylsulfate in vivo genomic footprinting analyses reveal five occupied DNA sequence elements present in intact B-lymphocytes. Functional analysis of these elements using promoter deletions and site-specific mutations demonstrates that at least two of the sites occupied in vivo are critical for transcriptional activity. In vitro protein/DNA analysis suggests that one of the sites is a TEF-2-like element and the other is occupied by a novel transcription activator. In addition, nuclear factor-1 associates with the promoter both in vivo and in vitro. In myeloma cell lines, loss of CIITA transcription correlates with a completely unoccupied CIITA promoter III. These findings suggest that CIITA transcription in B-lymphocytes is activated through at least two strong promoter elements, while loss of expression in myeloma cells is mediated through changes in promoter assembly.