title: Transcriptional regulation in B cell differentiation.
abstract: B cell development is a multistage differentiation process that ultimately generates antibody-secreting plasma cells. This model developmental pathway is governed by a choreographed pattern of expression from genes encoding stage and lineage-specific proteins. This is achieved by the interaction of distinct transcription factors with regulatory elements, placing these proteins in a central position in B cell ontogeny. The importance of distinct transcription factors is also supported by the notion that B cell development is disrupted in mice bearing homozygous null alleles of certain factors involved in the control of B-cell-specific genes. In this review we compare and contrast the transcriptional regulation of well-studied B lymphoid restricted genes, on a gene by gene basis, focusing on the functional structure of transcription control regions and interacting transcription factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Immunology Group, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liberg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sigvardsson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000276:immunology*