The selection of marginal zone B cells differs from that of B-1a cells.
Transgenic (Tg) L2 mice expressing high levels of the lambda2 (315) L chain contain only B cell populations involved in the first line of defense, i.e., B-1 and marginal zone (MZ) B cells. The strongly oligoclonal IgH chain repertoire of Tg B-1a cells in such mice was attributed to strong positive selection by autoantigens. In this study, we show that the MZ B cells of L2 mice correspond very closely to MZ B cells of normal mice, as revealed by surface marker expression and gene expression profiling. We demonstrate that the IgH chain repertoire of these Tg MZ B cells is extremely heterogeneous. This is in sharp contrast to the oligoclonality found in B-1a cells of the same mice, which was attributed to strong positive selection mediated by autoantigens. Therefore, the strong positive selection of the IgH chain repertoire in L2 mice is B-1a specific. Thus, our data demonstrate that despite common functional properties, MZ B and B-1a cells exhibit striking differences in their selection and/or maintenance requirements.
Kretschmer
Karsten
K
Molecular Immunology, Gesellschaft für Biotechnologishe Forschung, German Research Centre for Biotechnology, Braunschweig, Germany. Karsten_Kretschmer@dfci.harvard.edu
Jungebloud
Anke
A
Stopkowicz
Jana
J
Kleinke
Tanja
T
Hoffmann
Reinhard
R
Weiss
Siegfried
S
D000818:Animals; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015326:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010537:Peritoneum / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017464:Receptors, Complement 3d / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017455:Receptors, IgE / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains; D017464:Receptors, Complement 3d; D017455:Receptors, IgE