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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1991 Jul 15;88(14):6284–6288. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.14.6284

Normal pre-B cells express a receptor complex of mu heavy chains and surrogate light-chain proteins.

N Nishimoto 1, H Kubagawa 1, T Ohno 1, G L Gartland 1, A K Stankovic 1, M D Cooper 1
PMCID: PMC52067  PMID: 1906177

Abstract

Precursors of B cells, which constitute a subpopulation of the lymphocytes in bone marrow, can be identified by their surface expression of nonimmunoglobulin markers and the absence of immunoglobulin kappa and lambda light chains. Most pre-B cells synthesize mu heavy chains but, without light-chain partners, these undergo rapid cytoplasmic degradation. In the present study, we demonstrate that late stage pre-B cells, like their neoplastic counterparts, express low levels of a surface receptor composed of mu chains paired with a surrogate light-chain complex formed by Vpre-B and lambda 5-like proteins. The data define a previously suspected but unrecognized stage in normal pre-B-cell differentiation. Expression of a clonally diverse receptor renders this population of immature B-lineage cells potentially vulnerable to clonal selection by antigens and idiotypic interactions.

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Selected References

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