B cell immune repertoire diversifies in a predictable temporal order in vitro.
The appearance of functional, antigen-specific B cells was studied in an in vitro fetal organ culture system in the absence of environmental influences associated with circulation and cell migration. In this way the B cell diversification process could be analyzed when genetic influences were dominating. By using this system in combination with the splenic focus assay, the frequency of developing B cells responsive to a number of hapten probes was measured. The results indicate that B cell diversification in vitro, in the apparent absence of many environmental influences, results in the appearance of antigen-responsive B cells in a predictable, temporal order. The results suggest that the acquisition of the expressed repertoire to a large extent is genetically controlled.
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D005333:Fetus; D005865:Gestational Age; D006241:Haptens / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D007700:Kinetics; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques
D006241:Haptens