The E box motif CAGGTG enhances somatic hypermutation without enhancing transcription.

The frequency of somatic hypermutations of an Ig kappa transgene with an artificial test insert, RS, is at least 4-fold higher than that of three related transgenes. The four transgenes differ only in the sequence of a 96 bp insert within the variable region. RS is hypermutable over the total 625 nucleotides of the variable/joining region. The RS insert contains two CAGGTG sequences, potential binding sites for basic helix-loop-helix proteins. Changing CAGGTG to AAGGTG reduces the mutability to that of the non-RS transgenes without altering the mutation pattern. The CAGGTG motif enhances somatic hypermutation without enhancing transcription. A DNA probe containing the two CAGGTG sites, but not AAGGTG, binds E47 and gives rise to two specific EMSA bands with nuclear extracts from mutating cells. Possible actions of this enhancer of somatic hypermutation are discussed.