Human CR2 (CD21) is a B lymphocyte protein whose surface expression is restricted primarily to the mature cell stage during development. To study the transcriptional mechanisms that govern cell- and stage-restricted CR2 expression, we first performed transient transfection analysis using constructs extending from -5 kb to +75 bp (-5 kb/+75) in the CR2 promoter. The promoter was found to be broadly active, with no evidence of cell- or stage-specific reporter gene expression. However, the addition of a 2.5-kb intronic gene segment (containing a DNase I hypersensitive site) to the (-5-kb/+75) construct resulted in appropriate reporter gene expression, defined as the silencing of the (-5-kb/+75) promoter activity only in non-CR2-expressing cells. Interestingly, appropriate reporter gene expression required stable transfection of the constructs in cell lines, suggesting nuclear matrix or chromatin interactions may be important for appropriate CR2 gene expression. Importantly, transgenic mice also required the intronic silencer to generate lymphoid tissue-specific reporter gene expression. Some transgenic founder lines did not demonstrate reporter gene expression, however, indicating that additional transcriptional regulatory elements are present in other regions of the CR2 gene. In summary, these data support the hypothesis that human CR2 expression is regulated primarily by an intronic silencer with lineage- and B cell stage-specific activity.