Cutting edge: Hierarchy of maturity of murine memory B cell subsets

MM Tomayko, NC Steinel, SM Anderson… - The Journal of …, 2010 - journals.aai.org
The Journal of Immunology, 2010journals.aai.org
The paucity of murine memory B cell markers has been a significant impediment to the study
of memory. The most commonly used marker is IgG, which is neither sensitive nor specific,
because activated nonmemory cells can be IgG+, and memory cells can be IgM+. In this
article, we show that, together, PD-L2 (CD273), CD80, and CD73 define at least five
phenotypic subsets of murine memory B cells. These subsets are generated from naive cells
bearing a single BCR in response to a single T-dependent Ag. This diversity is independent …
Abstract
The paucity of murine memory B cell markers has been a significant impediment to the study of memory. The most commonly used marker is IgG, which is neither sensitive nor specific, because activated nonmemory cells can be IgG+, and memory cells can be IgM+. In this article, we show that, together, PD-L2 (CD273), CD80, and CD73 define at least five phenotypic subsets of murine memory B cells. These subsets are generated from naive cells bearing a single BCR in response to a single T-dependent Ag. This diversity is independent of class switch, because IgG 1-and IgM-bearing memory cells are found within each compartment. Memory subsets defined by PD-L2, CD80, and CD73 are biologically distinct from one another, because they differ in ontogeny and selection. Together, these distinctions suggest that there is a spectrum of memory B cells and progressive acquisition from more naive-like to more memory-like properties.
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