Ultrastructural immunochemistry of J chains in chickens

Using ultrastructural immunochemistry, we have determined subcellular localization of J chain molecules in chicken splenic cells. The majority of J chain positive cells (JPC) were lymphoblast-like cells. The data show that J chains predominantly are localized in cytoplasm with a considerable amount distributed on the cell surface. In the cytoplasm, J chains were diffusely expressed. Furthermore, these J chain molecules were clearly seen as cluster type. In addition to the J chain localization of subcellular organelles as described above, J chains were partly found on perinuclear spaces. As J chains are key protein in B cell differentiation into immunoglobulin (Ig) producing cells, these findings might help for studying regulation of B cell differentiation in addition to revealing the molecular assembly of polymeric Ig.