Human Fetal, Cord Blood, And Adult Lymphocyte Progenitors Have Similar Potential For Generating B Cells With A Diverse Immunoglobulin Repertoire

Author

Grant R. Kolar, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Takafumi Yokota
Maria Isabel D. Rossi
Swapan K. Nath
J. Donald Capra

Abstract

Several characteristics of the immunoglobulin (Ig) repertoire in fetuses and adults set them apart from each other. Functionally, this translates into differences in the affinity and effectiveness of the humoral immune response between adults and the very young. At least 2 possibilities could explain these differences: (1) fetal and adult lymphocyte progenitors differ significantly in their potential to form a diverse repertoire, and (2) factors extrinsic to the immunoglobulin locus are more influential to the character of the repertoire. To address this, we used nonobese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficient- β2 microglobulin knockout (NOD/SCID/β2m ^-/-) mice reconstituted with human B-cell progenitors to compare the immunoglobulin repertoire potential of human fetal, cord blood, and adult sources. We found nearly identical VH and JH gene segment use and only modest differences in the third complementarity determining region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (HCDR3). We conclude that the repertoire potential is remarkably similar regardless of the age of the individual from which progenitors are derived. Age-related differences in the immunoglobulin repertoire and variance of B-cell responses to immunization appear to arise from selection rather than from changes in recombination of the immunoglobulin locus itself. From the standpoint of the Ig repertoire, an immune system reconstituted from fetal or neonatal stem cells would likely be as diverse as one generated from adult bone marrow. © 2004 by The American Society of Hematology.

Recommended Citation

G. R. Kolar et al., "Human Fetal, Cord Blood, And Adult Lymphocyte Progenitors Have Similar Potential For Generating B Cells With A Diverse Immunoglobulin Repertoire," Blood, vol. 104, no. 9, pp. 2981 - 2987, American Society of Hematology (ASH Publications), Nov 2004.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2003-11-3961

Department(s)

Biological Sciences

Comments

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Grant P01AI045864

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0006-4971

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2025 American Society of Hematology (ASH Publications), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Nov 2004

PubMed ID

15256421