Description
A disulphide-linked heterodimer, consisting of mb-1 (or CD79a) and B29 (or CD79b) polypeptides, is non-covalently associated with membrane-bound immunoglobulins on B cells. This complex of mb-1 and B29 polypeptides and immunoglobulin constitute the B-cell Ag receptor. CD79a first appears at pre B-cell stage, early in maturation, and persists until the plasma cell stage where it is found as an intracellular component. It is found in the majority of acute leukemias of B-cell precursors, lines and lymphomas, and in some myelomas. It is not present in myeloid or Tcell lines. CD79a antibody is generally used to complement CD20 mAb, especially for mature B-cell lymphomas after treatment with Rituximab (anti-CD20). This CD79a antibody will stain many of the same lymphomas as CD20 mAb, but also is more likely to stain B-lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia than is CD20 mAb. CD79a antibody also stains more cases of plasma cell myeloma and occasionally some types of endothelial cells as well