Normal pre-B cells express a receptor complex of mu heavy chains and surrogate light-chain proteins.

作者：Naoki Nishimoto, Hiromi Kubagawa, Tatsuharu Ohno, G. Larry Gartland, Ana K. Stanković, Max D. Cooper · 发表于：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 年份：1991 · DOI：10.1073/pnas.88.14.6284 · 被引用次数：111 · 研究领域：Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research、Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research、T-cell and B-cell Immunology

Precursors of B cells, which constitute a subpopulation of the lymphocytes in bone marrow, can be identified by their surface expression of nonimmunoglobulin markers and the absence of immunoglobulin kappa and lambda light chains. Most pre-B cells synthesize mu heavy chains but, without light-chain partners, these undergo rapid cytoplasmic degradation. In the present study, we demonstrate that late stage pre-B cells, like their neoplastic counterparts, express low levels of a surface receptor composed of mu chains paired with a surrogate light-chain complex formed by Vpre-B and lambda 5-like proteins. The data define a previously suspected but unrecognized stage in normal pre-B-cell differentiation. Expression of a clonally diverse receptor renders this population of immature B-lineage cells potentially vulnerable to clonal selection by antigens and idiotypic interactions.