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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Examination of Thymic Positive and Negative Selection by Flow Cytometry
Published on: October 8, 2012
B-cell-receptor-dependent positive and negative selection in immature B cells
D Nemazee1, V Kouskoff, M Hertz
1Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Abstract:
This review touches on only a small part of the complex biology of B cells, but serves to illustrate the point that the antigen receptor is the most important of many cell-surface receptors affecting cell-fate decisions. Receptor expression is necessary, but not sufficient, for cell survival. It is also essential that a B cell's antigen-receptor specificity be appropriate for its environment. The need to balance reactivity with self tolerance has resulted in an intricate feedback control (affected by both the recombinase and cell survival) that regulates independent selection events at the level of the receptor and the cell.
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