11 - B cell Development Flashcards
Transcription factors that initiate differentiation of Pro-B cells
EBF, E2A, Pax5
Phases of B lymphocyte life history
- B cell precursor rearranges its immunoglobulin genes
- Immature B cell bound to self cell surface is removed from repertoire
- Mature B cell bound to foreign antigen is activated
- Activated B cells give rise to plasma cells and memory cells
Stages of lymphocyte maturation
Stem cell –> Pro lymphocyte –> Pre lymphocyte –> Immature lymphocyte –> Mature lymphocyte
Major events during stem cell and pro lymphocyte maturation
- Growth factor mediated commitment
- Proliferation
- Initiation of antigen receptor gene rearrangement
Major events during pre lymphocyte maturation
Selection of cells that express pre antigen receptors
Major events during Immature lymphocyte maturation
Selection of repertoire and acquisition of functional competence
Which antibodies do B cells start off with expressing
IgM
Membrane IgM (and IgD) on the surface of mature B cells
Is associated with the invariant Igβ and Igα molecules, which contain ITAMs in their cytoplasmic tails that mediate signalling functions.
Signal initiation by antigens
Occurs by cross-linking of the BCR and is facilitated by the coreceptors for the BCR, CD21 and C’ proteins
BCR complexes in class switched B cells (including memory B cells)
Contain membrane immunoglobulins that may be of IgG, IgA, or IgE classes
T/F: Each lymphocyte clone produces antigen receptor unique to that clone
TRUE
Functional antigen receptor genes
- Produced in immature B cells in the bone marrow by a process of gene rearrangement
- Generates a large number of variable region encoding exons using a relatively small fraction of the genome
organisation of human Ig loci
- Three separate loci encode all of the Ig heavy chains, the Ig κ light chain, and the Ig λ light chain.
- Each locus is on a different chromosome
- D (diversity) segments are not
found in Ig light chain loci
What is the germline organisation of the Ig genetic loci characterised by
Spatial segregation of many different sequences that encode variable domains, and relatively few sequences that encode constant domains of receptor proteins
Human Ig protein domains
- Proteins formed following the process of recombination of individual gene segments
- The V and C regions of each polypeptide are encoded by different gene segments.
- Contains hypervariable (complementarity-determining) regions
Diversity of antigen receptor genes
From the same germline DNA, it is possible to generate recombined DNA sequences and mRNAs that differ in their V-D-J junctions
V(D)J recombination
- Lymphocyte-specific proteins that mediate V(D)J recombination recognise recombination signal sequences (RSSs), located 3′ of each V gene segment, 5′ of each J segment, and flanking each side of every D segment
-During V(D)J recombination, double-stranded breaks are generated between the heptamer of the RSS and the adjacent V, D, or J coding sequence - The intervening double-stranded DNA, containing signal ends is removed in the form of a circle, and the V and J coding ends are joined
What does the RSS consist of
Highly conserved stretch of 7 nucleotides (heptameter) located adjacent to the coding sequence, followed by a spacer, followed by the nonamer
V genes that do not face each other
- In some V genes, especially in the Ig κ locus, the RSSs are 3’ of a Vκ and 3’ of Jκ, and therefore do not face each other.
- In these cases, the intervening DNA is inverted and the V and J segments are properly aligned
Double-stranded breaks are enzymatically generated at RSS- coding sequence junctions by what
- Recombination-activating gene 1 and recombination-activating gene 2 (RAG1 and RAG2) proteins
- The Rag-1/Rag-2 complex is also known as the V(D)J recombinase
V(D)J recombinase
- Recognises the DNA sequence at the junction between a heptamer and a coding segment and cleaves it
- Makes a nick on one DNA strand
- Forms a covalent hairpin
- Generates a blunt end
- Holds the hairpin ends and blunt ends together before ligation
Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase
A lymphoid-specific enzyme that adds bases to broken DNA ends to generate junctional diversity
Junctional diversity
- Addition of nucleotides at the junctions of the V and D, D and J, or V and J segments at the time these segments are joined, increasing diversity
- New nucleotide sequences, not present in the germline
Mechanism of junctional diversity (P nucleotides)
- Coding segments (e.g., V and J gene segments) that are cleaved
by Rag-1 form hairpin loops whose ends are often cleaved
asymmetrically by the enzyme Artemis (one DNA strand is longer than the other) - The shorter strand has to be extended with nucleotides complementary to the longer strand before the ligation of the two segments.
- The longer strand serves as a template for the addition of short lengths of nucleotides called P nucleotides, and this process introduces new sequences at the V- D-J junctions
Another mechanism of junctional diversity (N nucleotides)
- Random addition of up to 20 non template-encoded nucleotides called N nucleotides.
- Mediated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)
Pre B cell receptor (pre-BCR)
- Complexes of μ heavy chain, surrogate light chains, and signal transducing proteins called Igα and Igβ form the pre-antigen receptor of the B lineage