Epstein‐Barr virus‐induced IgE production in limiting dilution cultures of normal human B cells

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Abstract
The induction of in vitro IgE production in human B cells from normal, nonatopic donors has been difficult and somewhat controversial. We report that IgE production is consistently observed in limiting dilution cultures of in vitro Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV)‐infected normal human B lymphocytes. The frequency of IgE‐committed, EBV‐responsive cells ranged from 1/810 to 1/10000 B lymphocytes, and it was similar in peripheral (blood, tonsil) and central (bone marrow) tissue sites. Poisson distribution analysis of these limiting dilution cultures suggested that IgE‐committed B cells comprise 0.1–1% of all EBV‐responsive B lymphocytes.