B cells are generated throughout life in humans.
This analysis of B cell development as a function of age reveals a relatively widespread distribution of progenitor B (pro-B), pre-B, and B cells in fetal tissues, and thus supports the idea of a multifocal origin of B lineage cells during embryonic development. From mid-gestation onward, the bone marrow is the major site of B cell generation in humans. A relatively constant ratio of bone marrow precursors to B cells of immature phenotype (CD24highCD10+CD20lowIgD-) is maintained from mid-gestation through the eighth decade of life. The persistence of recombinase gene activity in pro-B cells further attests the sustained production of B cells in bone marrow. Interestingly, a subpopulation of B cells with mature phenotype (CD24lowCD10-CD20highIgD+) accumulates in the bone marrow during childhood, and this becomes the predominant B cell subpopulation in adult bone marrow. This mature population of bone marrow B cells may represent a subpopulation of recirculating B cells that have undergone selection in the periphery.
Nuñez
C
C
Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294-3300, USA.
Nishimoto
N
N
Gartland
G L
GL
Billips
L G
LG
Burrows
P D
PD
Kubagawa
H
H
Cooper
M D
MD
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D018956:CD5 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002648:Child; D017637:Clonal Deletion; D004253:DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase / Q000032:analysis; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000032:analysis; D005865:Gestational Age; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000502:physiology*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D006413:Hematopoietic System / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000032:analysis; D045567:VDJ Recombinases; D014781:Viscera / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology
D015415:Biomarkers; D018956:CD5 Antigens; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases; D045567:VDJ Recombinases; D004253:DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase