Cd1d regulates B cell development but not B cell accumulation and IL10 production in mice with pathologic CD5(+) B cell expansion.

Background: CD1d is a widely expressed lipid antigen presenting molecule required for CD1d-restricted invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell development. Elevated CD1d expression is detected in CD5(+) IL10-producing B cells, called B10 B cells, and is correlated with poorer prognosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a CD5(+) B cell malignancy with B10-like functional properties. Whether CD1d expression regulates CD5(+) B cell accumulation, IL10 competence, and antibody production in naïve mice with pathologic CD5(+) B cell expansion remains untested.

Accelerated progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in Eμ-TCL1 mice expressing catalytically inactive RAG1.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a prevalent B-cell neoplasia that is often preceded by a more benign monoclonal CD5(+) B-cell lymphocytosis. We previously generated transgenic mice expressing catalytically inactive RAG1 (dominant-negative recombination activating gene 1 [dnRAG1] mice) that develop an early-onset indolent CD5(+) B-cell lymphocytosis attributed to a defect in secondary V(D)J rearrangements initiated to edit autoreactive B-cell receptor (BCR) specificity. Hypothesizing that CD5(+) B cells in these animals represent potential CLL precursors, we crossed dnRAG1 mice with CLL-prone Eμ-TCL1 mice to determine whether dnRAG1 expression in Eμ-TCL1 mice accelerates CLL onset.

Accumulation of B1-like B cells in transgenic mice over-expressing catalytically inactive RAG1 in the periphery.

During their development, B lymphocytes undergo V(D)J recombination events and selection processes that, if successfully completed, produce mature B cells expressing a non-self-reactive B-cell receptor (BCR). Primary V(D)J rearrangements yield self-reactive B cells at high frequency, triggering attempts to remove, silence, or reprogramme them through deletion, anergy induction, or secondary V(D)J recombination (receptor editing), respectively. In principle, expressing a catalytically inactive V(D)J recombinase during a developmental stage in which V(D)J rearrangement is initiated may impair this process.