The transition of pre-BI to pre-BII cells is dependent on the V sub(H) structure of the mu /surrogate L chain receptor

• Published in: The EMBO journal 1996-01, Vol.15 (7), p.1524-1533
• Main Authors: Ye, Jian, McCray, S K, Clarke, SH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0261-4189

We have demonstrated previously that the majority (>90%) of V sub(H)12 B cells are absent from the adult peripheral repertoire, and that most that remain have a V sub(H)CDR3 sequence of 10 amino acids with a Gly in the fourth position at the D-J junction (designated 10/G4). We report here that most V sub(H)12-expressing pre-B cells are lost during the transition from the pre-BI to the pre-BII cell stage in normal mice, and that pre-BII cell productive (P) rearrangements are enriched in 10/G4 CDR3. This coincides with the initial expression of H chain and the generation of the mu /surrogate L chain (SL) receptor. In contrast, there is no enrichment for 10/G4 CDR3 in mu MT mice, and the frequency of P rearrangements is as expected from a random rearrangement mechanism, ruling out a biased rearrangement mechanism unique to V sub(H)12. We have also demonstrated that non-10/G4 mu chains can associate with SL and be expressed on the cell surface, suggesting that they are available on the cell surface for selection. Thus, transition of pre-BI to pre-BII cells is dependent on the structure of the V sub(H) domain.