Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Examining BCL-2 Family Function with Large Unilamellar Vesicles
Published on: October 5, 2012
Cloning, expression, and function of BLAME, a novel member of the CD2 family
G A Kingsbury1, L A Feeney, Y Nong
1Millennium Pharmaceutical, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. kingsbury@mpi.com
Abstract:
The CD2 family is a growing family of Ig domain-containing cell surface proteins involved in lymphocyte activation. Here we describe the cloning and expression analysis of a novel member of this family, B lymphocyte activator macrophage expressed (BLAME). BLAME shares the structural features of the CD2 family containing an IgV and IgC2 domain and clusters with the other family members on chromosome 1q21. Quantitative PCR and Northern blot analysis show BLAME to be expressed in lymphoid tissue and, more specifically, in some populations of professional APCs, activated monocytes, and DCS: Retroviral forced expression of BLAME in hematopoietic cells of transplanted mice showed an increase in B1 cells in the peripheral blood, spleen, lymph nodes, and, most strikingly, in the peritoneal cavity. These cells do not express CD5 and are CD23(low)Mac1(low), characteristics of the B1b subset. BLAME may therefore play a role in B lineage commitment and/or modulation of signal through the B cell receptor.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order to...
The Replisome
The synthesis of the leading and lagging strands is a highly coordinated process. To explain this, the “Trombone model” was proposed by Bruce Alberts in 1980. The DNA loop formation starts when a primer is synthesized on the parent lagging strand. The loop grows with the...
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
S-Cdk Initiates DNA Replication
Two states at the origin of replication
In eukaryotes, the initiation of replication occurs at many sites on the chromosomes, called the origins of replication.
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...

