title: Early Growth Response-1 Plays a Non-redundant Role in the Differentiation of B Cells into Plasma Cells.
abstract: Early growth response (Egr)-1 is a Cys2-His2-type zincfinger transcription factor. It has been shown to induce survival and proliferation of immature and mature B cells, respectively, but its role in the differentiation of B cells into plasma cells remains unclear. To examine the effects of Egr-1 deficiency on the activation of B cells, naive B cells from Egr1 (-/-) mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates were activated to proliferate and differentiate, and then assayed by FACS. Proportions of cells undergoing proliferation and apoptosis did not differ between Egr1 (-/-) and WT mice. However, Egr1 (-/-) B cells gave rise to fewer plasma cells than WT B cells. Consistently, Egr1 (-/-) mice produced significantly lower titer of antigen-specific IgG than their WT littermates upon immunization. Our results demonstrate that Egr-1 participates in the differentiation program of B cells into plasma cells, while it is dispensable for the proliferation and survival of mature B cells.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Autoimmunology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Yeon-Kyung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Autoimmunology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunkyeong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Autoimmunology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Doo-Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Autoimmunology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeehee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Youn
keywords: Antibody; B cells; Differentiation; Egr1; Plasma cells