title: B cell development and differentiation.
abstract: The initial phases of B cell development depend on interactions between the cell surface molecules and secreted products of stromal cells with their receptor-ligand partners on lymphoid progenitors. Recent research in this area has greatly advanced our understanding of B cell development and differentiation. Antigen receptors on pre-B and B cells play key roles in the progression of this differentiation process, as revealed by targeted and inherited gene mutations that disrupt B cell development and by the transgenic repair of these mutations in mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Pediatrics and Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294, USA. pete.burrows@ccc.uab.edu
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Burrows
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019891:Leukopoiesis; D051379:Mice