期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1981
卷号:78
期号:3
页码:1823-1827
DOI:10.1073/pnas.78.3.1823
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Immunoglobulin (Ig) gene expression has been followed during the later stages of development of the murine fetal liver. Biosynthetic labeling and immunoprecipitation were used to isolate Ig-related polypeptides from fetal and neonatal livers. By examination of the specific immune precipitates, the earliest detectable Ig was shown to consist only of mu heavy chain. At about the time of birth, when light chain synthesis became evident, separation of surface Ig-positive cells from surface Ig-negative cells by using anti-Ig-coated dishes showed that cells lacking surface Ig (pre-B lymphocytes) synthesized only mu chains. Thus, commencement of light chain synthesis was closely coordinated with the appearance of surface Ig. Ig RNA species were examined by electrophoretic fractionation and hybridization with cloned Ig DNA sequences. The sizes and amounts of Ig mRNA were found to correlate with the pattern of mu and light chain protein biosynthesis. mu chain RNA species appeared earlier in gestation than light chain RNA did, and only after birth did light chain sequences reach levels equivalent to those of mu chain. Cell populations enriched in pre-B lymphocytes also contained an excess of mu over light chain mRNA.