title: Transitional B cell subsets in human bone marrow.
abstract: B cells originate from precursors in the bone marrow, and the first cells which migrate to the peripheral blood have been classified as 'transitional B cells'. Transitional B cells have been characterized in human blood with stage 1 (T1) and stage 2 (T2) subsets being proposed. In the present study, 27 normal human bone marrow samples were analysed for transitional B cell markers by eight-colour flow cytometry. T1 transitional B cells (CD45(+)CD19(+)CD10(+)IgM(+)IgD(lo)) and T2 transitional B cells (CD45(+)CD19(+)CD10(+)IgM(+)IgD(+)) were identified in normal bone marrow samples at a mean frequency of 3·2 and 3·1% of total B lineage cells, respectively. A majority of the bone marrow transitional B cells were CD24(hi)CD38(hi) , the phenotype of blood transitional B cells. Consistent with recent peripheral blood data, T2 B cells had a significantly higher CD21 expression compared with T1 B cells (72·4 versus 40·9%) in the bone marrow. These data raise the possibility that transitional B cells are capable of differentiating from T1 to T2 B cells within the bone marrow. Furthermore, transitional cells at either stages 1 or 2 might be capable of migrating out of the bone marrow.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Department, SydPath, St Vincent's Pathology, St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, NSW, Australia; St Vincent's Clinical School, University of NSW, NSW, Australia; Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.forename: S A B C
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Tangye
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Sewell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: CD21; bone marrow; flow cytometry; human; transitional B cells