Item Type: | Article |
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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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