Development of murine B cell subpopulations.

The generation of diverse B cell subpopulations in the mouse is the subject of considerable current interest. In this review, I first describe a general framework for antigen-independent B cell differentiation in the adult bone marrow including results from in vitro culture systems. In following sections, effects on B cell development in several immunodeficient strains and transgenic lines are presented. Next, the CD5+ B cell subpopulation is covered in some depth, including data on development, physiology and repertoire selection. Finally, another selected population, memory B cells, together with their likely origins in the germinal center are discussed.