Identification of a human protein homologous to the mouse Lyb-2 B cell differentiation antigen and sequence of the corresponding cDNA.

We have isolated and sequenced cDNA clones encoding the human homolog of the mouse Lyb-2 B cell differentiation Ag. Previous data suggest that Lyb-2 might represent a growth factor or lymphokine receptor. Human Lyb-2 mRNA is expressed in normal human tonsils and bone marrow cells, in the pre-B cell line REH, in three Burkitt lymphoma cell lines, and in some EBV-transformed B cell lines, but not in antibody-secreting myeloma cell lines, T cell lines, or a promyelocytic leukemia cell line. These data indicate that expression of human Lyb-2 is restricted to B lineage cells and turned off in antibody-secreting plasma cells. A polyclonal mouse antiserum was raised against human Lyb-2 and immunoprecipitates a Mr 42,000 protein from REH, Raji, and Daudi cells and from mouse L(tk) cells transfected with the human Lyb-2 cDNA in an expression vector. The human Lyb-2 protein is related to both the asialoglycoprotein receptor and CD23, the B cell-specific FcR for IgE. These data demonstrate that human B cells express a previously undescribed cell surface protein that is homologous to mouse Lyb-2 and has a similar pattern of expression during B cell development.