Peripheral B cell maturation. II. Heat-stable antigen (hi) splenic B cells are an immature developmental intermediate in the production of long-lived marrow-derived B cells
Allman, D.M.; Ferguson, S.E.; Lentz, V.M.; Cancro, M.P.
Journal of Immunology 151(9): 4431-4444
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1767 PMID: 8409411 Document Number: 421433
HSA-hi B cells comprise 5 to 10% of adult mouse splenic B cells and are phenotypically and functionally immature. To assess their origin and relationship to mature, heat-stable Ag (HSA)-lo B cells, we determined HSA and surface IgD phenotype among splenic B cells throughout development, as well as during reconstitution of lethally irradiated adults given adult B-depleted bone marrow. In each case, HSA-hi splenic B cells predominate during the earliest stages of B cell genesis. Furthermore, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine labeling experiments indicate rapid turnover within both the marrow and peripheral HSA-hi pools, and adoptive transfer studies show that peripheral HSA-hi splenic B cells differentiate to HSA-lo within 4 days. Finally, splenic HSA-hi B cells reconstitute both primary and memory humoral responses. Together, these data indicate that splenic B cells in the HSA-hi subset are an intermediate maturational stage in the adult periphery.