Evidence for selective pressure in the appearance of monoclonal immunoglobulins during aging: studies in M54 µ-transgenic mice
article
Serum monoclonal immunoglobulins (M-Ig) appear during aging but little is known about the immunological factors which lead to their development. We have investigated whether such M-Ig occur as a clonally random process or result from V-region-directed selective pressures. We have analyzed a μ-transgenic mouse strain in which over 95% of all splenic B cells express the transgenic μ chain. All endogenous repertoire and unchain diversity are generated from the 5% of the B cells which express endogenous μ chains. Not one of the M-Ig detected in these mice were of transgene origin alone; 11 of the 14 M-Ig did not express a μ- chain and none of the μ chain containing M-Ig expressed the transgene allotype alone. This observation suggests that the B cells giving rise to M-Ig are heavily selected from among the small number of B cells which express endogenous Ig. The selective factors that might act on the endogenous B cell pools are discussed.
TNO Identifier
281088
Source
European Journal of Immunology, 23(7), pp. 1735-1738.
Pages
1735-1738
Files
To receive the publication files, please send an e-mail request to TNO Repository.