The VpreB protein of the surrogate light-chain can pair with some mu heavy-chains in the absence of the lambda 5 protein.

Nineteen different mu heavy-chains, seven of them not capable of forming a pre B cell receptor were expressed in Drosophila melanogaster Schneider cells together with either VpreB1, VpreB2, lambda5, or the complete surrogate light-chain to study their interactions in the formation of the pre B cell receptor. The lambda5 protein alone was unable to bind properly to any of the mu heavy-chains, while the VpreB proteins alone formed complexes with five of the mu heavy-chains. All mu heavy-chains incapable of forming a pre B cell receptor with surrogate light-chain were also incapable of complex formation with VpreB. The possible role of the VpreB/mu heavy-chain in allelic exclusion of the heavy-chain locus during B cell development is discussed.