CD40-activated surface IgD-positive lymphocytes constitute the long term IL-4-dependent proliferating B cell pool.

In vitro, B cells undergo long term proliferation when triggered through their CD40 surface molecule and in the presence of IL-4. Here, we show that cells that proliferate in this culture system lose their germinal center (GC) features and acquire or maintain non-GC markers. When separated by the magnetic cell separation system, both sIgD+ and sIgD- B cells can proliferate in this culture system, sIgD+ B cells exhibiting a higher rate of growth than sIgD- cells. Simultaneous flow cytometric measurement of sIgD and DNA content revealed that B lymphocytes can keep their sIgD after entry into cell cycle. Experiments using G8 Id-positive B lymphocytes allowed us to follow the evolution of sIgD+ and sIgD- cells in a reconstituted B cell population. Long term proliferating cells are sIgD+/sIgM(+)-derived B lymphocytes whereas the initial sIgD-/sIgM- cells are lost. Taken together, these data show that anti-CD40 + IL-4 activated sIgD+ B blasts express non-GC characteristics and that sIgD+ B cells preferentially proliferate in the CD40 system. The possible in vivo role of IL-4 + CD40 signaling is discussed.