# B CELL AND REPERTOIRE DEVELOPMENT IN VITRO

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 1988 · $114,719

## Abstract

The mechanism of B cell differentiation and the development of the immune
repertoire will be studied under defined conditions using an in vitro fetal
organ culture system and long term lymphocyte cultures.  B cell development
and diversification in culture will be assessed by a number of criteria
including 1) selection of VH genes by in situ hybridization using
radiolabeled VH gene family probes, 2) frequency of hapten-responsive B
cells to a number of haptens using the splenic focus assay, 3) acquisition
of B cell surface markers, 4) development of predominant clonotypes by
idiotypic analysis and VH gene selection, 4) degree of clonal expansion by
measuring increased frequencies of already existing clonotypes, and 5)
degree of diversification by examining the rate of appearance of clonotypes
normally acquired late in ontogeny.  Since these experiments are performed
in the absence of circulation and cell migration, newly developing B cells
that are uninfluenced by their environment are examined providing a unique
opportunity to analyze genetic vs environmental factors affecting
repertoire expression.  A number of factors will be tested for their effect
on B cell differentation and diversification including growth stimuli,
anti-idiotypes, anti-light chain, and anti-pre B cell marker reagents.
Moreover, using the criteria above, the metabolic requirements of
diversification will be assessed by adding various metabolic inhibitors to
the cultures.  In addition, the importance of age and compartmentalization
on B cell development will be further analyzed by comparing the B cell
precursor pools from fetal liver, fetal spleen, and adult bone marrow.
Finally, the selection of VH genes in the expressed vs available repertoire
will be compared and the importance of chromosomal location of VH gene
families in relation to their use in the functional repertoire evaluated.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3129360
- **Project number:** 5R01AI019896-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **SAM.gov UEI:** C3KXNLTAAY98
- **Principal Investigator:** JUDY M TEALE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $114,719
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1982-09-01 → 1988-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3129360

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3129360, B CELL AND REPERTOIRE DEVELOPMENT IN VITRO (5R01AI019896-06). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3129360. Licensed CC0.

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