title: Avian B cell development.
abstract: Development of B cells in chickens proceeds via a series of discrete developmental stages that includes the maturation of committed B cell progenitors in the specialized microenvironment of the bursa of Fabricius. The bursa has been shown to be required for the amplification of the B cell pool and selects for cells with productive immunoglobulin rearrangement events. Other events regulating chicken B cell development such as lymphocyte trafficking and apoptosis are just beginning to be elucidated. Within the bursa, the variable regions of immunoglobulin genes of B cell progenitors are diversified by a process of intrachromosomal gene conversion, where blocks of sequence information are transferred from pseudo-V regions to the recombined variable regions of the immunoglobulin genes. Recently gene conversion has been determined to play a role in the diversification of the immune repertoire in other species. In this review we focus on the current understanding and recent advances of B cell development in the chicken.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research, University of Chicago, IL 60637-5420, USA.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Masteller
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Pharr
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Funk
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000276:immunology; D002465:Cell Movement; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D005785:Gene Conversion; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D007107:Immune System / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development