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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Grafting of Beads into Developing Chicken Embryo Limbs to Identify Signal Transduction Pathways Affecting Gene Expression
Published on: January 17, 2016
Ligand-independent signaling during early avian B cell development
Kelly A Pike1, Michael J H Ratcliffe
1Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
Surface immunoglobulin (sIg) expression has been conserved as a critical checkpoint in B lymphocyte development. In the chicken embryo, only sIg+ B cells are selectively expanded in the bursa of Fabricius, a primary lymphoid organ unique to the avian species. We have previously demonstrated that an interaction between the antigen- binding sites of sIg and a specific bursal ligand(s) is not required to regulate this developmental checkpoint. Rather, the requirement for sIg expression can be attributed to the surface expression of the Igalpha/beta heterodimer associated with sIg. More specifically, ligand-independent signaling downstream of the Igalpha cytoplasmic domain drives all bursal stages of B cell development during embryogenesis. We discuss here a site-directed mutagenesis approach to identify the critical membrane proximal events involved in ligand-independent signaling during B cell development.
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