Accumulating evidence suggests that Pax5 plays essential roles in B cell lineage 
commitment. However, molecular mechanisms of B cell-specific expression of Pax5 
are not fully understood. Here, we applied insertional chromatin 
immunoprecipitation (iChIP) combined with stable isotope labeling using amino 
acids in cell culture (SILAC) (iChIP-SILAC) to direct identification of proteins 
interacting with the promoter region of the endogenous single-copy chicken Pax5 
gene. By comparing B cells with macrophage-like cells trans-differentiated by 
ectopic expression of C/EBPβ, iChIP-SILAC detected B cell-specific interaction 
of a nuclear protein, Thy28/Thyn1, with the Pax5 1A promoter. 
Trans-differentiation of B cells into macrophage-like cells caused 
down-regulation of Thy28 expression. Loss-of-function of Thy28 induced decrease 
in Pax5 expression and recruitment of myosin-9 (MYH9), one of Thy28-interacting 
proteins, to the Pax5 1A promoter. Loss-of-function of MYH9 also induced 
decrease in Pax5 expression. Thus, our analysis revealed that Thy28 is 
functionally required for B cell-specific expression of Pax5 via recruitment of 
MYH9 to the Pax5 locus in chicken B cells.