Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Volume 192, Issue 12, Pages 1745-1754Publisher
ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1084/jem.192.12.1745
Keywords
alum; germinal center; receptor editing; immunoglobulin re-rearrangement
Categories
Funding
- NIAID NIH HHS [AI20047] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Splenic B lineage cells expressing recombination activation genes (RAG(+)) in mice immunized with 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl-acetyl coupled to chicken gamma -globulin (NP-CGG) and the adjuvant aluminum-hydroxide (alum) have been proposed to be mature B cells that reexpress RAG after an antigen encounter in the germinal center (GC), a notion supported by findings of RAG expression in peripheral B lymphocyte populations activated in vitro. However, recent studies indicate that these cells might be immature B cells that have not yet extinguished RAG expression. Here, we employ RAG2-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion gene knock-in mice to show that RAG(+) B lineage cells do appear in the spleen after the administration of alum alone, and that their appearance is independent of T cell interactions via the CD40 path-way. Moreover, splenic RAG(+) B lineage cells were detectable in immunized RAG2-deficient mice adoptively transferred with bone marrow (BM) cells, but not with spleen cells from RAG(+) mice. Although splenic RAG(+) B cells express surface markers associated with GC B cells, we also find the same basic markers on progenitor/precursor BM B cells. Finally, we did not detect RAG gene expression after the in vitro stimulation of splenic RAG(-) mature B cells with mitogens (lipopolysaccharide and anti-CD40) and cytokines (interleukin [IL]-4 and IL-7). Together, our studies indicate that RAG(+) B lineage cells from BM accumulate in the spleen after immunization, and that this accumulation is not the result of an antigen-specific response.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available