PRE-B CELLS - BONE-MARROW PERSISTENCE IN ANTI-MU-SUPPRESSED MICE, CONVERSION TO B-LYMPHOCYTES, AND RECOVERY AFTER DESTRUCTION BY CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE

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  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 120  (5) , 1526-1531
Abstract
Chronic treatment of mice from birth with anti-.mu. antibodies aborts development of B [bone marrow derived] lymphocytes and plasma cells. Bone marrow from anti-.mu.-treated mice contains a population of cells with cytoplasmic Ig[immunoglobulin]M, but which lack detectable cell-surface IgM. [sIgM]. These cells are analogous to pre-B cells, defined in ontogenetic studies as the immediate precursors of B lymphocytes. Pre-B cells from bone marrow of anti-.mu. treated mice retain their functional integrity as evidenced by their ability to give rise to sIgM+, LPS[lipopolysaccharide]-responsive lymphocytes in culture. Cyclophosphamide treatment destroys pre-B cells and recovery of pre-B cells in bone marrow precedes the regeneration of sIgM+ B lymphocytes. Generation of B lymphocytes in adult mice apparently occurs exclusively in the bone marrow because induction of extramedullary hemopoiesis in spleen was not accompanied by the appearance of pre-B cells in that organ.