MOLECULAR REGULATION OF COMPROMISED B LYMPHOPOEISIS IN AGED MICE (original) (raw)

The antibody (immunoglobulin, Ig) quality declines with age in both mice and humans. Our laboratory previously determined that pre-B cell numbers as well as the surrogate light (SL) chain, composed of the VpreB and lambda 5 (5) peptides, are reduced in aged mice (1-3). The SL is part of the pre-B cell receptor, critical for Ig variable heavy (VH) chain selection, cellular proliferation, and survival at the pre-B cell stage. We have also established that a human lambda 5 (hu 5) transgene is regulated in a stage-and lineage-specific fashion, similar to that of mouse lambda 5 (m 5) (4).