The Journal of Immunology, Vol 141, Issue 6 1863-1869, Copyright © 1988 by American Association of Immunologists

ARTICLES

Age-related changes in the capability of the bone marrow to generate B cells

D Zharhary
Department of Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

The capability of the bone marrow (BM) to generate new B cells in aging was studied in vitro. BM cells from old (26 to 30 mo) or young (3 mo) BALB/c and (C3H/eB x C57BL/6)F1 mice were depleted of mature B cells and these surface Ig (sIg) BM cells were incubated in culture for 3 days. The frequency of newly generated B cells in these cultures was determined by assessing the frequency of slg+ cells and of B cells forming colonies in agar and by assaying the proliferative capacity of these newly generated B cells after stimulation by LPS. We found that BM cells from aged mice are significantly inferior to young ones in their capability to generate new B cells in culture. By mixing old and young slg- BM cells, we found that, in general, this reduction was not caused by a suppressive effect of T cells or of any other cells, but rather to lack of some sort of supportive cell or factor in the aged BM. In addition, we found that the frequency of cells expressing the B220 surface molecule, a B lineage-specific marker, is significantly reduced in aged BM. These results indicate that a quantitative decrease in B cell progenitors combined with changes in cell populations that are important in supporting B cell generation contribute to the age- related decrease in the capacity to generate B cells.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Frasca, A. M. Landin, R. L. Riley, and B. B. Blomberg Mechanisms for Decreased Function of B Cells in Aged Mice and Humans J. Immunol., March 1, 2008; 180(5): 2741 - 2746. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Tsuboi, K. Morimoto, Y. Hirabayashi, G.-X. Li, S. Aizawa, K. J. Mori, J. Kanno, and T. Inoue Senescent B Lymphopoiesis Is Balanced in Suppressive Homeostasis: Decrease in Interleukin-7 and Transforming Growth Factor-{beta} Levels in Stromal Cells of Senescence-Accelerated Mice Experimental Biology and Medicine, June 1, 2004; 229(6): 494 - 502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Ghia, G. Prato, C. Scielzo, S. Stella, M. Geuna, G. Guida, and F. Caligaris-Cappio Monoclonal CD5+ and CD5- B-lymphocyte expansions are frequent in the peripheral blood of the elderly Blood, March 15, 2004; 103(6): 2337 - 2342. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. M. Johnson, K. Owen, and P. L. Witte Aging and developmental transitions in the B cell lineage Int. Immunol., November 1, 2002; 14(11): 1313 - 1323. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. Johnson, S. J. Rozzo, and J. C. Cambier Aging-Dependent Exclusion of Antigen-Inexperienced Cells from the Peripheral B Cell Repertoire J. Immunol., May 15, 2002; 168(10): 5014 - 5023. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Manabe, H. Kawaguchi, H. Chikuda, C. Miyaura, M. Inada, R. Nagai, Y.-i. Nabeshima, K. Nakamura, A. M. Sinclair, R. H. Scheuermann, et al. Connection Between B Lymphocyte and Osteoclast Differentiation Pathways J. Immunol., September 1, 2001; 167(5): 2625 - 2631. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. S. Eaton-Bassiri, L. Mandik-Nayak, S.-j. Seo, M. P. Madaio, M. P. Cancro, and J. Erikson Alterations in splenic architecture and the localization of anti-double-stranded DNA B cells in aged mice Int. Immunol., June 1, 2000; 12(6): 915 - 926. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. LeMaoult, J. S. Manavalan, R. Dyall, P. Szabo, J. Nikolic-Zugic, and M. E. Weksler Cellular Basis of B Cell Clonal Populations in Old Mice J. Immunol., June 1, 1999; 162(11): 6384 - 6391. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. H. Kline, T. A. Hayden, and N. R. Klinman B Cell Maintenance in Aged Mice Reflects Both Increased B Cell Longevity and Decreased B Cell Generation J. Immunol., March 15, 1999; 162(6): 3342 - 3349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. M. Moscatello, K. L. Biber, D. C. Dempsey, R. Chervenak, and R. M. Wolcott Characterization of a B Cell Progenitor Present in Neonatal Bone Marrow and Spleen But Not in Adult Bone Marrow and Spleen J. Immunol., November 15, 1998; 161(10): 5391 - 5398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. M. Sherwood, B. B. Blomberg, W. Xu, C. A. Warner, and R. L. Riley Cutting Edge: Senescent BALB/c Mice Exhibit Decreased Expression of {lambda}5 Surrogate Light Chains and Reduced Development Within the Pre-B Cell Compartment J. Immunol., November 1, 1998; 161(9): 4472 - 4475. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. P. Stephan, C. R. Reilly, and P. L. Witte Impaired Ability of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells to Support B-Lymphopoiesis With Age Blood, January 1, 1998; 91(1): 75 - 88. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]