Lineage commitment in lymphopoiesis

Abstract

The mechanisms controlling the commitment of hematopoietic progenitor cells to the lymphoid lineages are still mostly unknown. Recent findings indicate that the earliest phase of B cell development may proceed in two steps. At the onset of B-lymphopoiesis, the transcription factors E2A and EBF coordinately activate the B-cell-specific gene expression program. Subsequently, Pax5 appears to repress the promiscuous transcription of lineage-inappropriate genes and thus commits progenitor cells to the B-lymphoid pathway by suppressing alternative cell fates. B-lineage commitment by Pax5 seems to occur in a stochastic manner in the bone marrow, as indicated by the random activation of only one of ..