Maturational and functional diversity of human B lymphocytes delineated with anti-Leu-8.
Human B lymphocyte subpopulations distinguished by their expression of the Leu-8 antigen were studied and found to differ in their respective maturational state and functional repertoire. The absence of Leu-8 expression correlated with an early step in antigen-driven B cell differentiation in that 1) as presented in the companion paper, germinal center B lymphocytes were uniformly Leu-8-, whereas mantle zone B cells were virtually all Leu-8+; 2) treatment of Leu-8+ B cells with the combination of rabbit anti-human mu-chain and B cell growth factor (BCGF), but not with either reagent alone, caused the loss of Leu-8 expression in addition to causing these cells to proliferate; and 3) only the Leu-8- B cell subset contained cells expressing the 4F2 activation antigen. Functional studies of peripheral blood B cells revealed that B cells giving rise to antibody-forming cells in the presence of T cells and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) were found almost exclusively in the Leu-8- subset of B cells, even though this subset comprised a minority of circulating B lymphocytes. By contrast, Leu-8+ B cells proliferated more vigorously than Leu-8- B cells to formalinized Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC). These data demonstrate that Leu-8 is an important maturational and functional marker for human B lymphocytes.
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D010641:Phenotype; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A / Q000494:pharmacology
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A