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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Retroviral Overexpression of CXCR4 on Murine B-1a Cells and Adoptive Transfer for Targeted B-1a Cell Migration to the Bone Marrow and IgM Production
Published on: May 31, 2020
B-1 B lymphocytes require Blimp-1 for immunoglobulin secretion
David Savitsky1, Kathryn Calame
1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Abstract:
B-1 B cells produce circulating natural antibodies that provide "innate-like" protection against bacterial and viral pathogens. They also provide adaptive responses to blood and air-borne pathogens. B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1 (Blimp-1) is a transcriptional repressor that is required for the formation of B-2-derived antibody-secreting plasma cells. In this study, we used mice lacking Blimp-1 in the B cell lineage to show that Blimp-1 is not necessary for the formation or self-renewal of B-1 B cells but that Blimp-1 is required for normal immunoglobulin (Ig) secretion by B-1 cells. B-1 cells lacking Blimp-1 do not repress Pax5 mRNA and do not induce X-box binding protein 1, and mu secreted mRNA normally, showing that B-1 and B-2 cells both use a common pathway for Ig secretion. Blimp-1-deficient B-1 B cells are also defective in providing early protection against influenza infection.
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