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Flow Cytometric Characterization of Murine B Cell Development
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Flow Cytometric Characterization of Murine B Cell Development

Published on: January 22, 2021

B cell development and proliferation of mature B cells in human fetal intestine

Sarah Golby1, Maggie Hackett, Laurent Boursier

  • 1Department of Histopathology, GKT Medical School, St. Thomas' Campus, London, United Kingdom.

Journal of Leukocyte Biology
|August 1, 2002
PubMed

B cells are present in human fetal intestine from approximately 14 weeks of gestation. Here we show that this population includes mature, dividing B cells. These are large cells with dendritic processes, resembling human thymic B cells. In addition, we observed IgM+, light chain-, and CD20- cells and local expression of V pre-B, demonstrating that the human fetal intestine is a site of B cell development. Ig V(H)DJ(H) gene sequencing can confirm clonal identity of B cells. Identification of the same IgV(H)4-34 sequence in serial sections in two fetuses confirmed local accumulation of related cells in each case. IgV(H)4-34 was also amplified from an additional two samples, and the D and J repertoire compared with a unique database of unselected V(H)4-34 genes from postnatal gut. Distinguishing characteristics of Ig lambda genes in postnatal gut were also studied in the fetus. According to these parameters, fetal and postnatal B cells are unrelated.

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