Surface Markers and Functional Relationships of Cells Involved in Murine B-lymphocyte Differentiation

Abstract

Lymphocyte precursors originating in the bone marrow undergo several antigen-independent differentiational steps that result in commitment both to eventual function and to antigen reactivity. Exposure of these committed precursors to antigen induces further differentiation, either directly to effector cells or to memory cells capable of rapid expansion and differentiation to effector cells upon reexposure to antigen. The latter stages in these pathways are regulated by other lymphocytes which act singly or in concert to govern the extent of the overall response. Taken together, the regulatory cells and the cells along the developmental pathway from precursor to effector for a given response constitute what may be termed a network (Jerne 1974).