New markers for murine memory B cells that define mutated and unmutated subsets

SM Anderson, MM Tomayko, A Ahuja… - The Journal of …, 2007 - rupress.org
SM Anderson, MM Tomayko, A Ahuja, AM Haberman, MJ Shlomchik
The Journal of experimental medicine, 2007rupress.org
The study of murine memory B cells has been limited by small cell numbers and the lack of a
definitive marker. We have addressed some of these difficulties with hapten-specific
transgenic (Tg) mouse models that yield relatively large numbers of antigen-specific memory
B cells upon immunization. Using these models, along with a 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine
(BrdU) pulse-label strategy, we compared memory cells to their naive precursors in a
comprehensive flow cytometric survey, thus revealing several new murine memory B cell …
The study of murine memory B cells has been limited by small cell numbers and the lack of a definitive marker. We have addressed some of these difficulties with hapten-specific transgenic (Tg) mouse models that yield relatively large numbers of antigen-specific memory B cells upon immunization. Using these models, along with a 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) pulse-label strategy, we compared memory cells to their naive precursors in a comprehensive flow cytometric survey, thus revealing several new murine memory B cell markers. Most interestingly, memory cells were phenotypically heterogeneous. Particularly surprising was the finding of an unmutated memory B cell subset identified by the expression of CD80 and CD35. We confirmed these findings in an analogous V region knock-in mouse and/or in non-Tg mice. There also was anatomic heterogeneity, with BrdU+ memory cells residing not just in the marginal zone, as had been thought, but also in splenic follicles. These studies impact the current understanding of murine memory B cells by identifying new phenotypes and by challenging assumptions about the location and V region mutation status of memory cells. The apparent heterogeneity in the memory compartment implies either different origins and/or different functions, which we discuss.
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