| First Author | Russell DM | Year | 1991 |
| Journal | Nature | Volume | 354 |
| Issue | 6351 | Pages | 308-11 |
| PubMed ID | 1956380 | Mgi Jnum | J:76119 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2178685 | Doi | 10.1038/354308a0 |
| Citation | Russell DM, et al. (1991) Peripheral deletion of self-reactive B cells. Nature 354(6351):308-11 |
| abstractText | B LYMPHOCYTES are key participants in the immune response because of their specificity, their ability to take up and present antigens to T cells, and their capacity to differentiate into antibody-secreting cells. To limit reactivity to self antigens, autospecific B cells can be functionally inactivated or deleted. Developing B cells that react with membrane antigens expressed in the bone marrow are deleted from the peripheral lymphocyte pool. It is important to ascertain the fate of B cells that recognize membrane autoantigens expressed exclusively on peripheral tissues because B cells in the peripheral lymphoid organs are phenotypically and functionally distinct from bone-marrow B cells. Here we show that in immunoglobulin-transgenic mice, B cells specific for major histocompatibility complex class I antigen can be deleted if they encounter membrane-bound antigen at a post-bone-marrow stage of development. This deletion may be necessary to prevent organ-specific autoimmunity. |
