We explored the role of antigen valency in B cell receptor (BCR) activation and rearrangement of intracellular MHC class II compartments as factors that contribute to the efficacy of antigen presentation. Using primary B cells that express a hen egg lysozyme (HEL)-specific BCR, we found that oligomeric HEL more efficiently promoted both BCR activation and internalization than did monovalent HEL, although monovalent HEL, unlike monovalent Fab fragments of anti-Ig, readily triggered the BCR. Nonetheless, oligovalent ligation positions the BCR in a membrane microdomain that is distinct from one engaged in the course of monovalent ligation, as judged by detergent extraction of the BCR. A ctivation of B cell receptors by specific antigen unleashes a cascade of downstream events which includes alteration of transcriptional programs that lead to cell proliferation and differentiation (1-3). B cells further use their B cell receptors (BCRs) to facilitate the capture of antigen, and in doing so, they improve antigen presentation via class II MHC molecules (4). The latter event is essential for B cells to receive help from antigen-specific CD4 ϩ T cells and to differentiate eventually into memory cells or plasma cells that secrete high-affinity antibody (5).Antigen-specific B cells present peptides derived from cognate antigens to CD4 ϩ T cells at concentrations far below those required for other B cells that lack an antigen-specific receptor (6). This highly efficient mode of antigen presentation is thought to be a consequence of the dual role of the BCR in the delivery of specific antigen to MHC class II-containing peptide-loading compartments and in signaling that leads to enhanced generation of immunogenic peptides (7,8).BCR-transduced signals promote efficient delivery of antigens through activation of Syk and B cell linker protein (BLNK) (9, 10). In addition, BCR-transduced signals induce physical and chemical remodeling of intracellular class II MHC-compartments (11). In the A20͞IIA1.6 mouse B lymphoma cell line, BCR activation by receptor cross-linking induced reorganization, fusion, and acidification of Lamp1-positive late endosomes where class II MHC molecules and invariant chain accumulate (12). In A20 B cells that express an anti-DNP IgM, BCR stimulation led to the transient intracellular accumulation of MHC molecules in newly formed multivesicular bodies, into which the peptide exchange catalyst H2-M was recruited (13).Although these studies were among the first to shed light on a role for BCR signaling in MHC class II-mediated antigen presentation, virtually all of the studies that describe behavior of MHC class II molecules in relationship to the activation of B cells have been performed in transformed cell lines. Moreover, stimulation of the BCR is usually accomplished either by cross-linking receptors with anti-Ig antibodies or by transfecting established cell lines to express BCRs of known specificity to enable their ligation in an antigen-specific manner, which then still involves extensive crosslinking...