The Role of the Pre-B Cell Receptor in B Cell Development, Repertoire Selection, and Tolerance

• Published in: Frontiers in immunology Vol. 9; p. 2423
• Main Authors: Winkler, Thomas H., Mårtensson, Inga-Lill
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 15.11.2018
• Subjects: 1986; 1991; allelic exclusion; ang h; antibody repertoire; B-cell development; cker dj; h-chain; immunoglobulin heavy; Immunologi inom det medicinska området; Immunology; Immunology in the Medical Area; journal of experimental medicine; journal of immunology; lambda-5; mouse bone-marrow; mu-heavy-chains; negative selection; p350; p425; pre-B cells; surface expression; surrogate light chain; targeted disruption; v146; v163; VpreB; λ-5; B-cell development; pre-B cells; allelic exclusion; surrogate light chain; VpreB; λ-5
• ISSN: 1664-3224; 1664-3224
• DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02423

Around four decades ago, it had been observed that there were cell lines as well as cells in the fetal liver that expressed antibody μ heavy (μH) chains in the apparent absence of light chains. It was thus possible that these cells expressed another molecule(s), that assembled with μH chains. The ensuing studies led to the discovery of the pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR), which is assembled from Ig μH and surrogate light (SL) chains, together with the signaling molecules Igα and β. It is expressed on a fraction of pro-B (pre-BI) cells and most large pre-B(II) cells, and has been implicated in IgH chain allelic exclusion and down-regulation of the recombination machinery, assessment of the expressed μH chains and shaping the IgH repertoire, transition from the pro-B to pre-B stage, pre-B cell expansion, and cessation.