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Molecular components of the B-cell antigen receptor complex of the IgM class

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Abstract

THE antigen receptors on mature B lymphocytes are membrane-bound immunoglobulins of the IgM and IgD classes1,2 whose cross-linking by polyvalent antigens results in B-cell proliferation and differentiation3. How these membrane-bound immunoglobulin chains, which lack a cytoplasmic tail, generate a cell activation signal is not at present known. We now show that the IgM molecule is non-covalently associated in the membrane of B cells with two proteins of relative molecular mass 34,000 (Mr 34 K; IgM-α) and 39 K (Ig-β) which form a disulphide-linked heterodimer. Surface expression of IgM seems to require the formation of an appropriate complex between IgM and the heterodimer. A transfection experiment indicates that IgM-α is the product of mb-l, a B-cell-specific gene4encoding a transmembrane protein with sequence homology5 to proteins of the T-cell antigen receptor–CD3 complex6–8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-lnstitut für Immunbiologie, Stübeweg 51, D-7800, Freiburg, FRG

    Joachim Hombach, Takeshi Tsubata, Lise Leclercq, Heike Stappert & Michael Reth

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  1. Joachim Hombach
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  2. Takeshi Tsubata
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  3. Lise Leclercq
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  4. Heike Stappert
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  5. Michael Reth
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Hombach, J., Tsubata, T., Leclercq, L. et al. Molecular components of the B-cell antigen receptor complex of the IgM class. Nature 343, 760–762 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/343760a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/343760a0

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