title: Cloning of B cell-specific membrane tetraspanning molecule BTS possessing B cell proliferation-inhibitory function.
abstract: Lymphocyte proliferation is regulated by signals through antigen receptors, co-stimulatory receptors, and other positive and negative modulators. Several membrane tetraspanning molecules are also involved in the regulation of lymphocyte growth and death. We cloned a new B cell-specific tetraspanning (BTS) membrane molecule, which is similar to CD20 in terms of expression, structure and function. BTS is specifically expressed in the B cell line and its expression is increased after the pre-B cell stage. BTS is expressed in intracellular granules and on the cell surface. Overexpression of BTS in immature B cell lines induces growth retardation through inhibition of cell cycle progression and cell size increase without inducing apoptosis. This inhibitory function is mediated predominantly by the N terminus of BTS. The development of mature B cells is inhibited in transgenic mice expressing BTS, suggesting that BTS is involved in the in vivo regulation of B cells. These results indicate that BTS plays a role in the regulation of cell division and B cell growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunochemistry, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suenaga
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arase
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
authors.forename: Arata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Takamichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte; D008565:Membrane Proteins