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Updated: Oct 11, 2026

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Published on: January 12, 2020
Nuclear factor kappa B is required for the development of marginal zone B lymphocytes
A Cariappa1, H C Liou, B H Horwitz
1Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02129, USA.
Although immunoglobulin (Ig)M(hi)IgD(lo/-)CD21(hi) marginal zone B cells represent a significant proportion of naive peripheral splenic B lymphocytes, few of the genes that regulate their development have been identified. This subset of peripheral B cells fails to emerge in mice that lack nuclear factor (NF)-kappa Bp50. Less drastic reductions in marginal zone B cell numbers are also seen in the spleens of recombination activating gene (Rag)-2(-/-) mice reconstituted with NF-kappa Bp65(-/-) fetal liver cells and in c-Rel(-/-) mice. In contrast, steady-state levels of IgD(hi) splenic follicular B cells are not significantly reduced in the absence of NF-kappa Bp50, NF-kappa Bp65, or c-Rel. Reconstitution of B cells in Rag-2(-/-) mice with a mixture of p50(-/-)/p65(-/-) fetal liver cells and Rag-2(-/-) bone marrow cells revealed that the generation of marginal zone B cells requires the expression of NF-kappa B in developing B cells, as opposed to supporting cells.
Although immunoglobulin (Ig)M(hi)IgD(lo/-)CD21(hi) marginal zone B cells represent a significant proportion of naive peripheral splenic B lymphocytes, few of the genes that regulate their development have been identified. This subset of peripheral B cells fails to emerge in mice that lack nuclear factor (NF)-kappa Bp50. Less drastic reductions in marginal zone B cell numbers are also seen in the spleens of recombination activating gene (Rag)-2(-/-) mice reconstituted with NF-kappa Bp65(-/-) fetal liver cells and in c-Rel(-/-) mice. In contrast, steady-state levels of IgD(hi) splenic follicular B cells are not significantly reduced in the absence of NF-kappa Bp50, NF-kappa Bp65, or c-Rel. Reconstitution of B cells in Rag-2(-/-) mice with a mixture of p50(-/-)/p65(-/-) fetal liver cells and Rag-2(-/-) bone marrow cells revealed that the generation of marginal zone B cells requires the expression of NF-kappa B in developing B cells, as opposed to supporting cells.
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