Development of B-lymphoid cells in the bone marrow is a process under strict control of a hierarchy of transcription factors. To understand the development of a B-lymphoid-restricted functional network of transcription factors, we have investigated the cell autonomous role of the transcription factor EBF1 in early B cell development. This revealed that even though transplanted EBF1-deficient fetal liver cells were able to generate common lymphoid progenitors (CLPs) as well as B220(+)CD43(+)AA4.1(+) candidate precursor B cells, none of these populations showed signs of B lineage priming. The isolated CLPs were able to generate T lymphocytes in vitro supporting the idea that the phenotype of EBF1-deficient mice is restricted to the development of the B lineage. Furthermore, EBF deficient CLPs displayed a reduction in Ig H chain recombination as compared with their wild-type counterpart and essentially lacked transcription of B-lineage-associated genes. Among the genes displaying reduced expression in the EBF1 deficient CLPs were the transcription factors Pax5, Pou2af1 (OcaB), and FoxO1 that all appear to be direct genetic targets for EBF1 because their promoters contained functional binding sites for this factor. This leads us to suggest that EBF1 regulates a transcription factor network crucial for B lineage commitment.

Commitment of hematopoietic progenitor cells to B-lymphoid cell fate has been suggested to coincide with the development of PAX5-expressing B220 +CD19+ pro-B cells. We have used a transgenic reporter mouse, expressing human CD25 under the control of the B-lineage- restricted IgII1 (λ5) promoter to investigate the lineage potential of early progenitor cells in the bone marrow. This strategy allowed us to identify a reporter expressing LIN-B220- CD19-CD127 +FLT3+ SCA1lowKITlow population that displays a lack of myeloid and a 90% reduction in in vitro T-cell potential compared with its reporter-negative counterpart. Gene expression analysis demonstrated that these lineage-restricted cells express B- lineage-associated genes to levels comparable with that observed in pro-B cells. These data suggest that B-lineage commitment can occur before the expression of B220 and CD19. © 2008 by The American Society of Hematology.

To investigate molecular events involved in the regulation of lymphoid lineage commitment, we crossed lambda 5 reporter transgenic mice to Rag1-GFP knockin mice. This allowed us to subfractionate common lymphoid progenitors and pre-pro-B (fraction A) cells into lambda 5(-)Rag1(low), lambda 5(-)Rag1(high), and lambda 5(+)Rag1(high) cells. Clonal in vitro differentiation analysis demonstrated that Rag1(low) cells gave rise to B/T and NK cells. Rag1(high) cells displayed reduced NK-cell potential with preserved capacity to generate B- and T-lineage cells, whereas the lambda 5(+) cells were B-lineage restricted. Ebf1 and Pax5 expression was largely confined to the Rag1high populations. These cells also expressed a higher level of the surface protein LY6D, providing an additional tool for the analysis of early lymphoid development. These data suggest that the classic common lymphoid progenitor compartment composes a mixture of cells with relatively restricted lineage potentials, thus opening new possibilities to investigate early hematopoiesis.

Deficiencies in the Il-7 signaling pathway result in severe disruptions of lymphoid development in adult mice. In order to understand how Il-7 deficiency impacts early lymphoid development we have investigated lineage restriction events within the CLP compartment of Il-7 knock out mice. This revealed that while Il-7 deficiency had a minor impact on the development and functional properties of LY6D- multipotent CLPs, the formation of the lineage restricted LY6D+ CLP population was dramatically reduced. This was reflected in a low level transcription of B-lineage genes as well as in a loss of functional B-cell commitment in developing progenitors. The defect could not be rescued by ectopic expression of Bcl-2 suggesting that the cytokine act in an instructive manner in early lymphoid development. This clarifies the role of Il-7 in early lymphoid development and puts emphasis on the relevance of the recently defined lineage restricted progenitor cells in lymphoid differentiation.