Transcription control of early B cell differentiation.
Differentiation of B lymphocytes involves the step-wise acquisition of a specialized phenotype that depends on the expression of lineage-specific genes and the repression of genes characteristic of multipotent progenitors and alternate lineages. The early steps of B lineage specification and commitment are, partly, controlled by the well-characterized transcription factors Ikaros, Pu.1, E2A, early B cell factor-1, and Pax5 that act in a complex regulatory network. However, our understanding of B cell differentiation is far from complete. Recent work has shed light on the mechanisms by which transcription factors implement cell type-specific gene expression patterns and epigenetic changes in chromatin that allow for B lineage specification and commitment.
Department of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology, Freiburg, Germany.
Elizabeth M
EM
Mandel
Rudolf
R
Grosschedl
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000276:immunology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000276:immunology*
D014157:Transcription Factors