Three distinct signals can induce class II gene expression in a murine pre-B-cell line.

Expression of class II genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has been studied in an Abelson-murine-leukemia-virus-transformed pre-B-cell line, R8, and its class II molecule (Ia)-negative variant, R8205. These variant cells contained barely detectable levels of RNA specific for all class II genes, including the nonpolymorphic invariant chain gene (Ii), and did not express cell surface Ia. Fusion of this murine Ia-negative cell line to the human Ia-positive Raji cell produced an interspecies hybridoma that expressed the murine Ia. These data are further evidence for the existence of a trans-acting factor(s) that can regulate class II gene expression. Furthermore, the T-cell-derived lymphokine B-cell-stimulatory factor 1 (BSF-1) induced expression of class II genes in the R8205 cells. Exposure of R8205 cells to an antibody that has been shown to mimic BSF-1 activity on normal B cells also resulted in expression of class II genes. These data demonstrate that three distinct signals--a lymphokine, an alloantibody binding to membrane structures, and an interspecies trans-acting factor--can induce expression of class II genes.