Development of B Cells secreting Endogenous or Transgene‐Encoded Immunoglobulins in H‐Chain Transgenic Mice

The development of splenic B cells secreting transgene‐encoded or endogenous immunoglobulin (Ig) was analysed in the μ heavy (H‐)chain transgenic mouse line M54. The results show that cells secreting endogenous Ig are not detectable during the perinatal period, even after lipopolysaccharide stimulation in vitro. At this time, transgene‐secreting cells are readily detectable and keep increasing with age of the animals. After a few weeks of age cells secreting endogenous Ig appear in the spleen and keep increasing with age, reaching numbers comparable to non‐transgenic littermates by 5 weeks of age. Thereafter, the proportion of transgene‐secreting B cells decreases. We conclude that the preferential expression of endogenous Igs by secreting B cells in the adult does not result from peculiar genetic features of those cells, but from age‐dependent cellular selection operating on all B cells.

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