Pre-BCR signals and the control of Ig gene rearrangements

Progenitor B lymphocytes that successfully assemble a heavy chain gene encoding an immunoglobulin capable of pairing with surrogate light chain proteins trigger their own further differentiation by signaling via the pre-BCR complex. The pre-BCR signals several rounds of proliferation and, in this expanded population, directs a complex, B cell-specific set of epigenetic changes resulting in allelic exclusion of the heavy chain locus and activation of the light chain loci for V(D)J recombination.