CD5+ B cells predominate in peripheral tissues of rabbit.
Restricted usage of VH genes is observed in rabbit B lymphocytes and in human and murine CD5 B lymphocytes. This observation raised the possibility that most rabbit B lymphocytes were CD5+. To investigate this we cloned the CD5 gene from a rabbit cosmid library, using a probe derived from human CD5 cDNA. The rabbit CD5 gene was transfected into a murine T cell line and then we used the transfectants to develop anti-rabbit CD5 mAb. By Western blot analysis, the mAb reacted with a 67-kDa protein in lysates prepared from mesenteric lymph node and spleen cells. We determined the frequency of CD5+ B lymphocytes in peripheral lymphoid tissues of adult rabbits by two-color immunofluorescence analysis using anti-CD5 mAb and anti-L chain antibodies. The analysis showed that essentially all peripheral B lymphocytes in adult rabbits express CD5. The observation that CD5 is expressed on nearly all rabbit B lymphocytes contrasts markedly to mouse and human, where only a small number of B lymphocytes express CD5. We propose that most peripheral B lymphocytes in rabbit, as in chicken, develop early in ontogeny and are maintained throughout life by a self-renewing process.
D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018956:CD5 Antigens; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015723:Gene Library; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011817:Rabbits; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014162:Transfection
D015703:Antigens, CD; D018956:CD5 Antigens