The Bruton's tyrosine kinase gene is expressed throughout B cell differentiation, from early precursor B cell stages preceding immunoglobulin gene rearrangement up to mature B cell stages

Abstract excerpt

X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is an immunodeficiency disease in man, resulting from an arrest in early B cell differentiation. The gene defective in XLA has recently been identified and encodes a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase, named Bruton's tyrosine kinase (btk), essential for cell differentiation and proliferation at the transition from pre-B to later B cell stages. In this study we investigated btk...