title: Antigen-specific B cell tumors of mice.
abstract: The topics covered in this review include: the origin and availability of murine B cell lymphomas bearing immunoglobulins of known antigen reactivity; their etiology and the role of antigen in lymphomagenesis; the extent to which such tumors are true analogs of normal B cells; and the knowledge of B cell differentiation which has been derived from the study of these cells. There is little or no evidence that B lymphomas with preselected antigen specificity can be induced at will. However, there is evidence that genetic factors influencing idiotype specific regulation can predispose particular subsets of B cells to neoplastic transformation, and thereby indirectly influence the antigen specificity of the resultant lymphomas. The bulk of evidence suggests that, except for growth control characteristics, recently derived B cell lymphomas retain many of the features of normal lymphocytes. Thus, mechanisms elucidated by study of lymphomas are probably reflective of normal B cell biology.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D006183:H-2 Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000276:immunology; D007109:Immunity; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes / Q000235:genetics; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000032:analysis; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D006183:H-2 Antigens; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes; D007136:Immunoglobulins