Smith K G, Weiss U, Rajewsky K, Nossal G J, Tarlinton D M
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Post Office Royal Melborne Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
Immunity. 1994 Dec;1(9):803-13. doi: 10.1016/s1074-7613(94)80022-7.
To address the role of apoptosis in the humoral immune response, we have examined a well-characterized T cell-dependent B cell response in mice expressing transgenic Bcl-2 in their B lymphocytes. The selection of somatic mutants and the appearance of high affinity antibodies was not affected by constitutive Bcl-2 expression. Such expression did, however, disproportionately increase the antigen-specific memory B cell pool, suggesting that the final size of the memory compartment may be regulated by an apoptotic process, which, in turn, can be influenced by Bcl-2. In addition, transgenic mice showed prolonged survival of foci of early antibody-producing cells, suggesting their removal is mediated by apoptosis that can be blocked by Bcl-2.
为了研究细胞凋亡在体液免疫反应中的作用，我们检测了在B淋巴细胞中表达转基因Bcl-2的小鼠体内一种特征明确的T细胞依赖性B细胞反应。体细胞突变体的选择和高亲和力抗体的出现不受组成型Bcl-2表达的影响。然而，这种表达确实不成比例地增加了抗原特异性记忆B细胞库，这表明记忆区室的最终大小可能受细胞凋亡过程调控，而细胞凋亡过程又可能受Bcl-2影响。此外，转基因小鼠显示早期抗体产生细胞灶的存活时间延长，这表明它们的清除是由细胞凋亡介导的，而Bcl-2可以阻断这种细胞凋亡。
