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  • The EMBO Journal (2003) 22, 4759 - 4769
  • doi:10.1093/emboj/cdg464

Enforced expression of EBF in hematopoietic stem cells restricts lymphopoiesis to the B cell lineage

Zheng Zhang1, Claudiu V. Cotta2, Robert P. Stephan1, Cristina G. deGuzman3 and Christopher A. Klug1,2

  1. Department of Microbiology, Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
  2. Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
  3. Department of Human Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA

Correspondence to:

Christopher A. Klug, E-mail: chris.klug@ccc.uab.edu

Received 12 November 2002; Accepted 24 July 2003; Revised 23 July 2003

Mice deficient in early B cell factor (EBF) are blocked at the progenitor B cell stage prior to immunoglobulin gene rearrangement. The EBF-dependent block in B cell development occurs near the onset of B-lineage commitment, which raises the possibility that EBF may act instructively to specify the B cell fate from uncommitted, multipotential progenitor cells. To test this hypothesis, we transduced enriched hematopoietic progenitor cells with a retroviral vector that coexpressed EBF and the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Mice reconstituted with EBF-expressing cells showed a near complete absence of T lymphocytes. Spleen and peripheral blood samples were >95 and 90% GFP+EBF+ mature B cells, respectively. Both NK and lymphoid-derived dendritic cells were also significantly reduced compared with control-transplanted mice. These data suggest that EBF can restrict lymphopoiesis to the B cell lineage by blocking development of other lymphoid-derived cell pathways.

  • Keywords:

    • B cell development,
    • EBF,
    • hematopoietic stem cell,
    • T cell development,
    • transcription factor