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T A Hayden

Publications and source records attributed to T A Hayden.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

The initiation of B cell clonal expansion occurs independently of pre-B cell receptor formation.

Current models of B cell development posit that clonal expansion occurs as a direct result of Ig H chain expression. To test this hypothesis, we isolated a population of early B cells in which H chain recombination is initiated and assessed V(H)DJ(H) rearrangements in both cycling and noncycling cells. We found that actively dividing cells within this population are enriched for H chain rearrangements that are productive when compared with their counterparts in G(0)/G(1), apparently supporting a role for H chain expression in initiating early B cell division; entrance into the cell cycle was accompanied by V(H) gene-dependent H chain selection. However, we also identified a phenotypically identical population of actively cycling early B cells in the absence of H chain expression in recombination activating gene knockout mice. In addition, actively cycling early B cells could be detected in pre-B cell receptor (pBCR)-negative lambda5 knockout mice, but we found no evidence for V(H)-dependent H chain selection in this population. Given these results, we suggest that the initiation of clonal expansion, at this early stage in B cell development, occurs independently of H chain expression. Although the cycling cell pool is enriched for pBCR-positive cells in mice expressing surrogate L chain, pBCR formation is not required for the initiation of cell division.

Animals↗

B cell maintenance in aged mice reflects both increased B cell longevity and decreased B cell generation.

In aged mice the population of mature peripheral B cells is maintained despite a severalfold decrease in the population of bone marrow B cell progenitors. The analysis of the rate of accumulation of 5'-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled splenic B cells in mice fed BrdU for 8 days to 8 wk demonstrated a severalfold increase in the half-life of mature B cells in aged mice. Consistent with a role for decreased B cell turnover in maintaining the mature B cell population of aged mice, several findings indicate that fewer newly generated B cells enter the spleen from the bone marrow in aged vs young adult mice. These include 1) a fourfold decrease in the population of relatively immature splenic B cells, defined as cells that express high levels of heat-stable Ag and accumulate BrdU within 8 wk of labeling; and 2) an equivalent decrease in the population of bone marrow cells representative of later stages of B cell maturation (sIgD-sIgM(int-high)). Surprisingly, despite a four- to sixfold decrease in pre-B cells, the population of least mature bone marrow B cells (IgD-sIgM(very low)) remains intact. Because this population accumulates BrdU-labeled cells more slowly in aged mice than in younger mice, and bone marrow B cells at more mature developmental stages are diminished, it appears that in aged mice B cell development beyond the sIgM(very low) stage may be retarded and that cells, therefore, accumulate within this population.

Aging↗

Heavy chain V gene-specific elimination of B cells during the pre-B cell to B cell transition.

As developing B cells acquire their surface Ig (sIg) receptors, they become highly susceptible to sIg-mediated negative selection, a process best exemplified by tolerance induction. Recent studies with sIg transgenic mice have suggested that B cells may become inactivated by tolerogens only after a developmental stage wherein they express low levels of sIgM and during the course of up-regulating their expression of sIgM. To determine whether inactivation of B cells of conventional mice occurs at this or other maturational stages, we have analyzed the ratio of productive vs nonproductive rearrangements of VH81X gene segments in developmental subsets of adult bone marrow cells. Earlier studies had demonstrated that cells whose productively rearranged H chain V region contained a VH81X gene segment were selectively disfavored both during pre-B cell development and subsequent to sIg expression. Contrary to the expectations for elimination by tolerance, no decrease in the proportion of cells expressing productive rearrangements of VH81X was observed as cells matured from the sIgMlow to the sIgMhigh maturational stage. However, a significant decrease in the proportion of productively rearranged VH81X gene segments was observed following the transition from sIg- pre-B cells to sIgMlow immature B cells. Additionally, the proportion of productively rearranged VH81X gene segments was significantly higher in sIgMhigh bone marrow cells than in splenic B cells. These findings demonstrate that B cells are susceptible to H chain-specific elimination at two developmental stages other than that wherein B cells are generally assumed to be negatively selected by tolerance.

Animals↗