Efficient generation of B lymphocytes by recognition of self-antigens

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Efficient generation of B lymphocytes by recognition of self-antigens
Creators Name:	Eschbach, C. and Bach, M.P. and Fidler, I. and Pelanda, R. and Köhler, F. and Rajewsky, K. and Jumaa, H.
Abstract:	Antibody diversity is generated by a random gene recombination process with the inherent risk of the production of autoreactive specificities. The current view suggests that B cells expressing such specificities are negatively selected at an early developmental stage. Using the knock-in model system of the 3-83 autoreactive B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) in combination with precursor-BCR (pre-BCR) deficiency, we show here that the 3-83 BCR mediates efficient generation of B cells in the presence, but not the absence, of a strongly recognized auto-antigen. Experiments with mixed bone marrow chimeras showed that combining the 3-83 BCR with the corresponding auto-antigen resulted in efficient reconstitution of B-cell development in immune-deficient mice. These results suggest that B cells are positively selected by recognition of self-antigens during developmental stages that precede receptor editing. Moreover, the data indicate that the pre-BCR functions as a specialized autoreactive BCR to initiate positive selection at a stage where the cells express immunoglobulin heavy but not light chains.
Keywords:	Autoimmune, Proliferation, Self-Reactive, Selection, Animals, Mice
Source:	European Journal of Immunology
ISSN:	0014-2980
Publisher:	Wiley
Volume:	41
Number:	8
Page Range:	2397-2403
Date:	August 2011
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.201041344
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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