Regulation of inherently autoreactive VH4-34 B cells in the maintenance of human B cell tolerance
J. Clin. Invest. Aimee E. Pugh-Bernard, et al. 108:1061 doi:10.1172/JCI12462 [Go to this article.]

Figure 2
VH4-34 cells primarily reside within the follicular mantle zone. (a) Purified tonsil naive B cells were fractionated into Bm1 and Bm2 subsets based on their expression of surface IgD and CD23 (dot plot on the left) and stained with 9G4 or LJ26 (histograms on the right). A two- to fourfold expansion of VH4-34 cells from the Bm1 (virgin naive) to the Bm2 (ligand-selected naive) compartment was consistently demonstrated in all samples analyzed. (b) Immunohistochemical staining of adjacent tonsil sections was performed with antibodies against B cells (anti-CD20), VH4-34 cells (9G4), VH4 cells (LC1), or T-cells (anti-CD3). A conventional distribution of B cells and T cells was observed within the follicular mantle (FM), dark zone (DZ), and light zones (LZ) of typical germinal center structures. VH4-34 cells were concentrated in the FM and were virtually absent from the germinal center proper. In contrast, B cells expressing VH4 antibodies distinct from VH4-34 were readily visualized inside the germinal centers (LC1 staining).