Blimp-1, a Novel Zinc Finger-Containing Protein That Can Drive the Maturation of B Lymphocytes into Immunoglobulin-Secreting Cells (Reprinted from Cell, vol 77, pg 297-306, 1994)

We describe a novel gene Blimp-1 (for B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein), transcripts of which are rapidly induced during the differentiation of B lymphocytes into immunoglobulin secretory cells and whose expression is characteristic of late B and plasma cell lines. The 856 amino acid open reading frame contains five Kruppel-type zinc finger motifs and proline-rich and acidic regions similar to those of known transcription factors. Serological studies shown an - 100 kd protein that localizes to the nucleus. Stable or transient transfection of Blimp-1 into B cell lymphoma lines leads to the expression of many of the phenotypic changes associated with B cell differentiation into an early plasma cell stage, including induction of J chain message and immunoglobulin secretion, up-regulation of Syndecan-1, and increased cell size and granularity. Thus, Blimp-1 appears to be a pleiotropic regulatory factor capable of at least partially driving the terminal differentiation of B cells.