Abstract
In mammals that use gut-associated lymphoid tissues for expansion and somatic diversification of the B cell repertoire, B lymphopoiesis occurs early in ontogeny and does not appear to continue throughout life. In these species, including sheep, rabbit, and cattle, little is known about the pathway of B cell development and the time at which B lymphopoiesis wanes. We examined rabbit bone marrow by immunofluorescence with anti-CD79a and anti-mu and identified both proB and preB cells. The proB cells represent the vast majority of B-lineage cells in the bone marrow at birth and by incorporation of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine, they appear to be a dynamic population. PreB cells reach maximum levels in the bone marrow at 3 wk of age, and B cells begin to accumulate at 7 wk of age. We cloned two VpreB and one lambda5 gene and demonstrated that they are expressed within B-lineage cells in bone marrow. VpreB and lambda5 coimmunoprecipitated with the mu-chain in lysates of 293T cells transfected with VpreB, lambda5, and mu, indicating that VpreB, lambda5, and mu-chains associate in a preB cell receptor-like complex. By 16 wk of age, essentially no proB or preB cells are found in bone marrow and by PCR amplification, B cell recombination excision circles were reduced 200-fold. By 18 mo of age, B cell recombination excision circles were reduced 500- to 1000-fold. We suggest that B cell development in the rabbit occurs primarily through the classical, or ordered, pathway and show that B lymphopoiesis is reduced over 99% by 16 wk of age.
Publication types
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Aging / genetics
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Aging / immunology
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Animals, Newborn
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B-Lymphocyte Subsets / cytology*
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B-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology*
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B-Lymphocyte Subsets / metabolism
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Base Sequence
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Bone Marrow Cells / cytology
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Bone Marrow Cells / immunology
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Bone Marrow Cells / metabolism
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Bromodeoxyuridine / metabolism
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Cell Differentiation / genetics
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Cell Differentiation / immunology
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Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Light Chain
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Hematopoietic Stem Cells / cytology*
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Hematopoietic Stem Cells / immunology*
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Hematopoietic Stem Cells / metabolism
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Humans
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains, Surrogate
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Immunoglobulin Variable Region / biosynthesis
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Immunoglobulin Variable Region / genetics
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Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / biosynthesis
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Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / genetics
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Lymphopoiesis / genetics
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Lymphopoiesis / immunology*
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Membrane Glycoproteins / biosynthesis
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Membrane Glycoproteins / genetics
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Mice
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Pre-B Cell Receptors
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Rabbits / genetics
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Rabbits / immunology*
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Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Substances
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains
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Immunoglobulin Light Chains, Surrogate
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Immunoglobulin Variable Region
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Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains
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Membrane Glycoproteins
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Pre-B Cell Receptors
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Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell
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Bromodeoxyuridine
Associated data
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GENBANK/AY351267
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GENBANK/AY351268
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GENBANK/AY351269
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GENBANK/AY445932
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GENBANK/AY445933
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GENBANK/AY445934
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GENBANK/AY445935
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GENBANK/AY445936
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GENBANK/AY445937
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GENBANK/AY445938