Expression of phosphorylcholine-specific B cells during murine development.
The TEPC 15 (T15) clonotype, a putatively germline antibody specificity, does not appear in the neonatal B-cell repertoire until approximately 1 wk of age. This report extends this observation by the demonstration that (a) the T15 clonotype follows similar kinetics of appearance in germfree as well as conventionally-reared mice; (b) maternal influences and genetic background play a minor role in the development of the T15 clonotype since CBFI neonates raised by C57BL/6 or BALB/c mothers acquire the T15 clonotype at the same time in ontogeny as BALB/c neonates; (c) the lack of phosphorylcholine (PC)-specific B cells shortly after birth is reflected in a dearth of PC-binding cells in the neonate as well; and (d) no PC-specifc B cells are found in 19-day fetal liver or in bone marrow until 7 days of life, coincident with their appearance in the spleen. These findings, along with a previous report that PC-specific splenic B cells are tolerizable as late as day 10 after birth, confirm the invariant, late occurrence of the T15 clonotype and support a highly- ordered, rigorously predetermined mechanism for the acquisition of the B- cell repertoire. The results are discussed in light of other studies on the ontogeny of B-cell specificity, and in terms of the implications on the mechanism by which antibody diversity is generated.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000276:immunology*; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D002794:Choline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology; D005796:Genes; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D007126:Immunoglobulin Allotypes; D008099:Liver / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009194:Myeloma Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D010767:Phosphorylcholine / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology
D000906:Antibodies; D007126:Immunoglobulin Allotypes; D009194:Myeloma Proteins; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; D002794:Choline