B cell development and differentiation

P D Burrows1, M D Cooper

  • 1Department of Medicine, Pediatrics and Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294, USA. pete.burrows@ccc.uab.edu

The initial phases of B cell development depend on interactions between the cell surface molecules and secreted products of stromal cells with their receptor-ligand partners on lymphoid progenitors. Recent research in this area has greatly advanced our understanding of B cell development and differentiation. Antigen receptors on pre-B and B cells play key roles in the progression of this differentiation process, as revealed by targeted and inherited gene mutations that disrupt B cell development and by the transgenic repair of these mutations in mice.

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