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Formation of disulphide-linked µ2ω2 tetramers in pre-B cells by the 18K ω-immunoglobulin light chain

Nature volume 329, pages 172–174 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

Pre-B cells are precursors of B lymphocytes that contain intracel-lular heavy-chain protein (µ) and are either yet to rearrange their light-chain genes or are in the process of doing so1–4. These cells have traditionally been considered to contain intracellular µ-chain with no associated light chain. We demonstrate here that pre-B lymphoid lines synthesize a protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) 18,000 (18K), which we term ω, which forms disulphide-linked µ2ω2 tetramers. This protein could be immunoprecipitated with µ-chain from pre-B lines, but not from T-cell and fibroblast lines that express transfected µ-genes, nor from a pre-B line that synthesizes a Dµ-protein (which lacks a V domain). We view the ω-chain as being a pre-B specific surrogate light chain that may be essential for the important regulatory function that the µ-protein is believed to have at this stage of differentiation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142, USA

    Shiv Pillai

  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    David Baltimore

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  1. Shiv Pillai
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  2. David Baltimore
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Pillai, S., Baltimore, D. Formation of disulphide-linked µ2ω2 tetramers in pre-B cells by the 18K ω-immunoglobulin light chain. Nature 329, 172–174 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/329172a0

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