Pre-B cell receptor expression is necessary for thymic stromal lymphopoietin responsiveness in the bone marrow but not in the liver environment

doi:10.1073/pnas.0402919101

Pre-B cell receptor expression is necessary for thymic stromal lymphopoietin responsiveness in the bone marrow but not in the liver environment

^*Unité des Cytokines et Développement Lymphoïde, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris, France; ^†Unité du Développement des Lymphocytes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité de Recherche Associée 1961, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris, France; and ^‡Department of Experimental Immunology, Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany

Edited by Max D. Cooper, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, and approved June 11, 2004 (received for review April 26, 2004)

Abstract

IL-7 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) are two major cytokines controlling murine B cell development. IL-7 has been studied extensively, but only recently has it become possible to unravel the role of TSLP in detail. We studied the biological activities of TSLP in B cell development at distinct ages in the mouse. On the one hand, TSLP is able to give rise to a measurable B1 cell compartment derived from fetal liver pro-B cells, although, as is the case for B2 cells, it does not play a prevalent role in the development of this subset. On the other hand, TSLP drives the proliferation of pro-B cells from the fetal and neonatal liver, but in the bone marrow environment, B cell precursors require pre-B cell receptor expression for TSLP responsiveness.

Footnotes

↵ § To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pvieira{at}pasteur.fr.
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Abbreviations: BCR, B cell receptor; BM, bone marrow; FL, fetal liver; γc, common γ chain; IgH, Ig heavy chain; IgH-tg, IgH transgene; IL-7Rα, IL-7 receptor α; PerCP-Cy5.5, peridinin chlorophyll-a protein-cyanin 5.5; Rag, recombination-activating gene; TCRβ°, T cell antigen receptor β°; TSLP, thymic stromal lymphopoietin; TSLP-R, TSLP receptor.