title: Characteristics of natural antibody-secreting cells.
abstract: Natural IgM plays a critical role in protection from pathogens and the prevention of autoimmunity. While its importance has been shown in many different settings, its origins are incompletely understood. This review focuses on the properties of the natural IgM antibody-secreting cells (ASCs), which arise mainly from the B-1 cell lineage. B-1 cells are generated in multiple waves during development, mostly in the fetal and early postfetal periods. The developmental time points can affect their repertoire: prenatal B-1 cells express a mainly germ line-encoded repertoire, while postnatally developing B-1 cells can express Ig with a greater degree of variation. Spleen and bone marrow, but not the body cavities, are primary sites of natural IgM secretion. Within these tissues heterogeneous populations of IgM ASCs can be found. While some ASCs express classical markers of B-1 lymphocytes, others express those of terminally differentiated plasma cells. A better understanding of the properties of these different natural IgM ASCs could aid their future therapeutic exploitation.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Group in Immunology, Davis, California.|Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis, California.
authors.forename: Hannah P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: Graduate Group in Immunology, Davis, California.|Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis, California.|Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis, California.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baumgarth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000921:Antibody-Producing Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D000074462:Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007075:Immunoglobulin M; C513258:Prdm1 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors; C033027:secretory IgM; D000074462:Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1
keywords: B-1 cell development; B-1 cells; Blimp-1; natural IgM