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Updated: Oct 17, 2026

Murine Model of CD40-activation of B cells
Published on: March 5, 2010
Cyclin D3 compensates for loss of cyclin D2 in mouse B-lymphocytes activated via the antigen receptor and CD40
E W Lam1, J Glassford, L Banerji
1Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Section of Virology and Cell Biology, Imperial College School of Medicine at St Mary's, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom. eric.lam@ic.ac.uk
Abstract:
Cyclin D2 is the only D-type cyclin expressed in mature mouse B-lymphocytes, and its expression is associated with retinoblastoma protein (pRB) and pRB-related protein phosphorylation and induction of E2F activity, as B-cells enter the cell cycle following stimulation via surface IgM and/or CD40. Cyclin D-dependent kinase activity is required for cell proliferation, yet cyclin D2(-/-) mice have normal levels of mature B-lymphocytes. Here we show that B-lymphocytes from cyclin D2(-/-) mice can proliferate in response to anti-IgM and anti-CD40, but the time taken to enter S-phase is longer than for the corresponding cyclin D2(+/+) cells. This is due to the compensatory induction of cyclin D3, but not cyclin D1, which causes pRb phosphorylation on CDK4-specific sites. This is the first demonstration that loss of a D-type cyclin causes specific expression and functional compensation by another member of the family in vivo and provides a rationale for the presence of mature B-lymphocytes in cyclin D2(-/-) mice.
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