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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., Bach, M.P., Fidler, I., Pelanda, R., Köhler, F., 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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