Shaping up a lineage--lessons from B lymphopoesis.

Even though the development of B lymphoid cells from hematopoietic stem cells is one of the most carefully investigated models of cell differentiation in adult mammalians, a set of recent findings has to a large extent increased our understanding for how B lymphoid commitment is achieved. These include the identification of IKAROS, PU.1 and E2A as transcription factors responsible for lymphoid lineage priming in multipotent cells, as well as the identification of EBF1 dependent B lineage restricted progenitors among cells lacking expression of the classical B lineage markers CD19 or B220. The insight that the B cell identity may be defined at an earlier stage then previously thought, allows for an increased understanding of B lymphoid development likely to unravel molecular mechanisms of high relevance also for other differentiation processes within as well as outside of the hematopoietic system.