Long-term cultured B lymphocytes and their precursors reconstitute the B-lymphocyte lineage in vivo.

Long-term in vitro cultured B lymphocytes and their precursors were tested for their ability to reconstitute a functional B-cell lineage in vivo. Continuous in vitro production of cells representing early stages of the B-lymphocyte lineage originates from a bone marrow cell type that can be distinguished from a multipotential hematopoietic stem cell. Progenitors of the long-term cultured B-lymphoid cells are recoverable in vitro after in vivo passage into lethally irradiated mice. Long-term cultured B-lymphoid cells and their progenitors reconstituted the B-lymphocyte lineage and restored normal humoral immunity in genetically defective mice. Cultured B-lymphoid cells did not cause lymphoid tumors in vivo in irradiated syngeneic mice. These findings indicate that multipotential hematopoietic stem cells are not directly required for the continued production of functionally competent B lymphocytes in vitro, and they suggest the existence of a B lymphoid progenitor cell with in vitro, and possibly in vivo, stem cell-like qualities.