Description
We purified five subsets representing the main stages of human precursor-B-cell differentiation and CD34+lin- cord blood cells. The immunoglobulin (Ig) gene rearrangement status was determined using TaqMan quantitative PCR and GeneScan analysis. To gain more insight in the networks of genes that initiate and/or regulate the different types of Ig gene rearrangements, we analyzed their gene expression profiles by correlating the initiation of Ig gene rearrangements with specific upregulation of transcription factors. In addition to previously described transcription factors, we identified 16 candidate genes involved in initiation and/or regulation of Ig gene rearrangements.