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. 2003 Sep 5;301(5638):1374-7.
doi: 10.1126/science.1086907. Epub 2003 Aug 14.

Predominant autoantibody production by early human B cell precursors

Hedda Wardemann  1 , Sergey Yurasov, Anne Schaefer, James W Young, Eric Meffre, Michel C Nussenzweig
Affiliations

Predominant autoantibody production by early human B cell precursors

Hedda Wardemann et al. Science. .

Abstract

During B lymphocyte development, antibodies are assembled by random gene segment reassortment to produce a vast number of specificities. A potential disadvantage of this process is that some of the antibodies produced are self-reactive. We determined the prevalence of self-reactive antibody formation and its regulation in human B cells. A majority (55 to 75%) of all antibodies expressed by early immature B cells displayed self-reactivity, including polyreactive and anti-nuclear specificities. Most of these autoantibodies were removed from the population at two discrete checkpoints during B cell development. Inefficient checkpoint regulation would lead to substantial increases in circulating autoantibodies.

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