| First Author | Corcos D | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 166 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 3083-9 |
| PubMed ID | 11207259 | Mgi Jnum | J:133777 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3784132 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.166.5.3083 |
| Citation | Corcos D, et al. (2001) Expression of a V region-less B cell receptor confers a tolerance-like phenotype on transgenic B cells. J Immunol 166(5):3083-9 |
| abstractText | Neoplastic B cells from H chain disease patients express a truncated B cell receptor (BCR), comprising a membrane Ig that lacks part of its extracellular domain. It has been speculated that deletion of the Ag binding domain would confer a constitutive activity on the BCR, as it has been shown for oncogenic growth factor receptors. A V region-less BCR has constitutive activity, because in transgenic mice it causes inhibition of endogenous H chain gene rearrangements and relieves the requirement for surrogate L chain in pre-B cell development. However, it has been speculated that normal Ag receptors also display constitutive activity. Here we show that transgenic B cells expressing a membrane H chain disease protein on their surface are phenotypically and functionally similar to B cells developing in the presence of their cognate Ag and that cells with normal levels of mutant BCR are eliminated in spleen via a bcl-2 sensitive pathway while progressing toward the mature stage. In contrast, cells with lower levels of mutant receptors develop as mature B cells. These findings support the view that the truncated BCR has a constitutive activity that mimics ligand binding, in analogy to what has been shown for oncogenic growth factor receptors. |
