title: Excessive amounts of mu heavy chain block B-cell development.
abstract: Antigen-independent B-cell development occurs in several stages that depend on the expression of Ig heavy and light chain. We identified a line of mice that lacked mature B cells in the spleen. This mouse line carried approximately 11 copies of a transgene of the murine heavy chain constant region locus, and B-lineage cells expressed excessive amounts of the intracellular μ heavy chain. B-cell development failed in the bone marrow at the pro/pre B-cell transition, and examination of other lines with various copy numbers of the same transgene suggested that deficiencies in B-cell development increased with increased transgene copy number. Expression of a transgenic (Tg) light chain along with the Tg μ heavy chain led to minimal rescue of B-cell development in the bone marrow and B cells in the spleen. There are several potential mechanisms for the death of pro/pre B cells as a consequence of excess heavy chain expression.
authors: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
authors: Lingqiao
authors: L
authors: Zhu
authors: Cheong-Hee
authors: CH
authors: Chang
authors: Wesley
authors: W
authors: Dunnick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics; D018628:Gene Dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007107:Immune System / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology*; D007121:Immunocompetence / Q000235:genetics; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D054448:Precursor Cells, B-Lymphoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007148:Immunoglobulin mu-Chains