HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yu, Q. Articles by Sen, J. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yu, Q. Articles by Sen, J. M.

Role of β-Catenin in B Cell Development and Function

Qing Yu^*, William J. Quinn, III, Theresa Salay^*, Jenni E. Crowley, Michael P. Cancro and Jyoti Misra Sen^1,*

^* Lymphocyte Development Unit, Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore MD 21224; and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 36th and Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6082

β-Catenin is a central mediator of Wnt signaling pathway, components of which have been implicated in B cell development and function. B cell progenitors and bone marrow stromal cells express Wnt ligands, Frizzled receptors and Wnt antagonists, suggesting fine tuned regulation of this pathway in B cell development. In particular, deletion of Frizzled 9 gene results in developmental defects at the pre-B stage of development and an accumulation of plasma cells. Furthermore, Wnt signals regulate B cell proliferation through lymphocyte enhancer-binding factor-1. However, it is not known whether Wnt signaling in B cell development is mediated by β-catenin and whether β-catenin plays a role in mature B cell function. In this report, we show that mice bearing B cell-specific deletion of β-catenin have normal B cell development in bone marrow and periphery. A modest defect in plasma cell generation in vitro was documented, which correlated with a defective expression of IRF-4 and Blimp-1. However, B cell response to T-dependent and T-independent Ags in vivo was found to be normal. Thus, β-catenin expression was found to be dispensable for normal B cell development and function.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Jyoti M. Sen, National Institute on Aging-National Institutes of Health, 4B08 GRC Building, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail address: Jyoti-Sen{at}nih.gov

² Abbreviations used in this paper: BM, bone marrow; FO B, follicular B cell; MZ B, marginal zone B cell; BAFF-R, BAFF-receptor; PC, plasma cell; CSR, class-switch recombination; LEF, lymphocyte enhancer factor; TCF, T cell factor; RT, real time; ASC, Ab secreting cell; NP, 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenylacetyl.