Penn Vet | BiomedSci News
Contact
New Bolton Center Kennett Square, PA
Emergencies & Appointments:
610-444-5800
Directions
Ryan Hospital Philadelphia, PA
Emergencies:
215-746-8911
Appointments:
215-746-8387
Directions

Uncovering a way for pro-B cells to change trajectory

By: Erica Moser Date: Oct 16, 2024
Rendering of T cells
Image: iStock/cgtoolbox

Development of B cells, white blood cells that make antibodies, follows a progression of stages: common lymphoid progenitors, pre-pro-B cells, pro-B cells, pre-B cells, immature B cells, and then more mature and specialized B cells. By the time the development hits the pro-B stage, the cell is fated to stay a B cell rather than another type of cell.

But researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine have found that knockout of YY1in pro-B cells impairs this lineage commitment, enabling unusual plasticity in blood cell formation. YY1 is a ubiquitous transcription factor that is capable of both activation and repression functions and plays significant roles in cell proliferation and replication, DNA repair, and the development of embryos.

They found that YY1 knockout pro-B cells can generate T lineage cells—which help B cells produce antibodies—in vitro and in a mouse model. Their findings are published in the journal Genes & Development.

“The data has come out better than my wildest fantasy,” says senior author Michael Atchison, professor of biomedical sciences at Penn Vet. He says of YY1, “Since it’s expressed everywhere and it’s involved with so many lineages, the potential for regenerative medicine is quite high.”

Read more on Penn Today!