Quantitation of cell surface molecules on a differentiating, Ly-1+ B cell lymphoma

The number of molecules expressed on the B cell membrane is known to influence the level of immune responses. However, a careful study of the changes in numbers of cell surface molecules during B cell differentiation has not been undertaken. We have addressed this question by using an inducible B cell lymphoma, CH12. Scatchard analysis was used to quantitate the levels of expression of surface immunoglobulin, major histocompatibility complex-encoded class I and class II molecules, and Ly-1 molecules on these cells during their differentiation in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We found that the density of most molecules on the initial population of CH12 cells was comparable to their densities on small splenic B cells. Upon culture, we could classify the molecules into two groups based on their change in expression. One group, represented by surface immunoglobulin and class II molecules, decreased (surface immunoglobulin) or did not change (class II) in number after LPS stimulation, but increased during culture in the absence of LPS. The second set, represented by class I and Ly-1 molecules, increased after LPS stimulation, but did not change as a result of culture. Although the characteristic behavior of class I and class II molecules was different, concomitant changes were observed in both class I (K and D) molecules, and in both class II (I-A and I-E) molecules.