Birth pangs: the stressful origins of lymphocytes.
Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) is a transmembrane protein that signals from the ER and contributes to the generation of an active spliced form of the transcriptional regulator X-box-binding protein 1 (XBP1). XBP1 is required for the terminal differentiation of B lymphocytes into plasma cells, and IRE1 also participates in this differentiation event. A study in this issue of the JCI reveals, quite unexpectedly, that IRE1 is also required early in B lymphocyte development for the induction of the machinery that mediates Ig gene rearrangement.
Pillai
Shiv
S
Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02129, USA. pillai@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D038041:Lymphopoiesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D000071701:Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000071717:X-Box Binding Protein 1
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000071701:Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000071717:X-Box Binding Protein 1; C000605543:XBP1 protein, human; C403982:ERN2 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D004722:Endoribonucleases