The role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in lymphocyte development. Skok, M., Grailhe, R., Agenes, F., & Changeux, J. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 171(1-2):86-98, 2, 2006.
The role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in lymphocyte development [pdf]Paper  The role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in lymphocyte development [link]Website  abstract   bibtex   
The sizes of lymphocyte populations in lymphoid organs of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor knockout and chimera (knockout/wild-type) mice were studied by flow cytometry. The absence of h2 subunit decreased, while nicotine treatment increased B lymphocyte numbers in the bone marrow. In chimera mice, either h2or a7 subunits influenced lymphocyte populations in primary lymphoid organs, while in the spleen, only a7 receptors were critical. More annexin V-positive B cells were found in the bone marrow of knockout than wild-type animals. We conclude that nicotinic receptors are involved in regulating lymphocyte development and control the B lymphocyte survival.

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