High frequency of lambda gene activation in bone marrow pre-B cells.

The frequency of lambda light chain (L) producing cells in immunoglobulin-producing cells that have been generated in vitro from bone marrow pre-B cells was investigated. The frequency of lambda-producing cells obtained in such a culture was three- to eightfold higher than that observed in the culture of mature spleen B cells. These results suggest that the activation of lambda gene at pre-B cell stage occurs far more frequently than the frequency presumed from the percentage of lambda-bearing cells in mature B cells.