Comparison of gene expression profiles between mouse follicular and marginal zone B-cells

Immature B cells in spleens of mouse and human differentiate into at least two subsets of mature B cells, the follicular (FO) B cells and the marginal zone (MZ) B cells, but functions, maturation and other properties of these cells are largely unknown. To solve these questions, in this study, we performed transcriptome analyses of FO and MZ B cells sorted from spleens of normal unimmunized mice using gene chips. By comparison of gene expression profiles between FO and MZ B cells, we identified 1226 genes that are expressed higher in FO B cells than in MZ B cells. On the other hand, 1734 genes were found to be expressed higher in MZ B cells than in FO B cells. We noticed that some of differentially expressed genes have been reportedly characterized in FO and MZ B cells, suggesting the reliability of the analysis. By using FACS analyses, we confirmed that CD36, CD68, and CD49e are expressed on MZ B-cells but not on FO B-cells. These results revealed new phenotypic and functional properties of FO and MZ B cells, and set a molecular basis for further studying differentiation and functions of these mature B cells. Keywords: Comparison of gene expression profiles between mouse follicular and marginal zone B-cells one follicular B cells replicate and one marginal zone B cells replicate were analyzed.