Vajdy M, Sethupathi P, Knight K L
Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
J Immunol. 1998 Mar 15;160(6):2725-9.
By approximately 4 to 8 wk of age, the IgH VDJ genes of essentially all rabbit B lymphocytes have undergone somatic diversification. Some of this diversification occurs in the appendix, which is a gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). To determine whether GALT is essential for somatic diversification, we surgically removed the appendix, sacculus rotundus, and Peyer's patches from neonatal rabbits (designated GALT-less) and examined the extent to which VDJ genes were somatically diversified. We found that the IgM VDJ genes of peripheral B cells from 2- to 5-mo-old GALT-less rabbits had undergone considerably less somatic diversification than those of control rabbits. Further, the percentage of peripheral B cells in the GALT-less rabbits was generally less than that of controls. Our data suggest that, in rabbits, the primary Ab repertoire develops in GALT, and B cell expansion also occurs there. Hence, GALT may function as a mammalian bursal homologue.
到大约4至8周龄时，基本上所有兔B淋巴细胞的免疫球蛋白重链（IgH）可变区（VDJ）基因都已经历体细胞多样化。其中一些多样化发生在阑尾，阑尾是一种与肠道相关的淋巴组织（GALT）。为了确定GALT对于体细胞多样化是否必不可少，我们通过手术切除新生兔的阑尾、圆小囊和派尔集合淋巴结（称为无GALT兔），并检查VDJ基因体细胞多样化的程度。我们发现，2至5月龄无GALT兔外周B细胞的IgM VDJ基因经历的体细胞多样化程度明显低于对照兔。此外，无GALT兔外周B细胞的百分比通常低于对照兔。我们的数据表明，在兔中，主要的抗体库在GALT中发育，并且B细胞也在那里扩增。因此，GALT可能起到哺乳动物法氏囊同源物的作用。
