This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yuan, D Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yuan, D

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Mol Cell Biol. 1986 April; 6(4): 1015-1022

Regulation of immunoglobulin D synthesis in murine neonatal B lymphocytes.

ABSTRACT

We analyzed the regulatory basis for the lower expression of immunoglobulin D (IgD) in lymphocytes from neonatal mice of various ages. The results indicate that the relative transcriptional rate of RNA for delta chains is similar to adult levels even in cells which have not started to express IgD. These results suggest that very early after the initiation of mu gene transcription, a defined fraction of polymerases is programmed to progress through the termination site to the delta exons regardless of the developmental stage of the cell. Similar results were obtained from adult CBA/N mice whose spleens contain a large fraction of cells expressing low levels of IgD. On the other hand, the relative steady state level of mRNA in neonatal lymphocytes is approximately half of that in adults, suggesting that there may be differences in the processing or stability of the nascent transcript. In addition, measurements of the in vivo translation rate show that an inefficient delta polypeptide chain processing machinery in neonatal lymphocytes is also an important factor contributing to the reduced expression of IgD.