MATURATION OF HUMAN LYMPHOCYTES-B - STUDIES WITH A PANEL OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES AGAINST MEMBRANE-ANTIGENS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 52  (3) , 655-664
Abstract
The expression of 6 different membrane markers by cells of the human B lymphocyte lineage was studied using monoclonal antibodies. B cells representing various stages of differentiation/maturation were examined using normal cells, leukemia cells and continuous cell lines. The expression of the 6 markers was compared with maturation stages defined by Ig expression. The HLA/.beta.2-microglobulin complex is present throughout the B cell lineage, while the Ia (p28,33) marker is present from the earliest stage that can be attributed to the B lineage but is lost during plasma cell differentiation. A marker detected by monoclonal antibody FMC 1 is present only on mature B lymphocytes, being absent from pre-B cells or plasma cells. FMC 7 detects an antigen found on a relatively mature subpopulation, whereas FMC 8 detects early as well as mature B cells. FMC 3 expression is found on a proportion of cells at any maturation stage, suggesting that expression of this marker is controlled by factors unrelated to maturation.