Age-associated B cells (ABC) inhibit B lymphopoiesis and alter antibody repertoires in old age.

With old age (∼2y old), mice show substantial differences in B cell composition within the lymphoid tissues. In particular, a novel subset of IgM+ CD21/35lo/- CD23- mature B cells, the age-associated B cells or ABC, increases numerically and proportionately. This occurs at the expense of other B cell subsets, including B2 follicular B cells in spleen and recirculating primary B cells in bone marrow. Our studies suggest that ABC have a distinctive antibody repertoire, as evidenced by relatively high reactivity to the self-antigens phosphorylcholine (PC) and malondialdehyde (MDA). While PC and MDA are found on apoptotic cells and oxidized lipoproteins, antibodies to these antigens are also cross-reactive with epitopes on bacterial species. In old mice, ABC express TNFα and are pro-inflammatory. ABC can inhibit growth and/or survival in pro-B cells as well as common lymphoid progenitors (CLP). In particular, ABC cause apoptosis in pro-B cells with relatively high levels of the surrogate light chain (SLC) and, consequently, promote an "SLC low" pathway of B cell differentiation in old mice. SLC together with µ heavy chain comprises the pre-B cell receptor (preBCR) critical for pre-B cell expansion and selection of the µ heavy chain Vh repertoire. The low level of SLC likely impairs normal preBCR driven proliferation and alters µ heavy chain Vh selection thereby affecting the antibody specificities of new B cells. In this manner, ABC may contribute to both qualitative and quantitative disruptions of normal B lymphopoiesis in old age.

Surrogate light chain is required for central and peripheral B-cell tolerance and inhibits anti-DNA antibody production by marginal zone B cells.

Selection of the primary antibody repertoire takes place in pro-/pre-B cells, and subsequently in immature and transitional B cells. At the first checkpoint, µ heavy (µH) chains assemble with surrogate light (SL) chain into a precursor B-cell receptor. In mice lacking SL chain, µH chain selection is impaired, and serum autoantibody levels are elevated. However, whether the development of autoantibody-producing cells is due to an inability of the resultant B-cell receptors to induce central and/or peripheral B-cell tolerance or other factors is unknown. Here, we show that receptor editing is defective, and that a higher proportion of BM immature B cells are prone to undergoing apoptosis. Furthermore, transitional B cells are also more prone to undergoing apoptosis, with a stronger selection pressure to enter the follicular B-cell pool. Those that enter the marginal zone (MZ) B-cell pool escape selection and survive, possibly due to the B-lymphopenia and elevated levels of B-cell activating factor. Moreover, the MZ B cells are responsible for the elevated IgM anti-dsDNA antibody levels detected in these mice. Thus, the SL chain is required for central and peripheral B-cell tolerance and inhibits anti-DNA antibody production by MZ B cells.

Surrogate light chain expression beyond the pre-B cell stage promotes tolerance in a dose-dependent fashion.

While surrogate light chain (SLC) expression is normally terminated in differentiating pre-B cells, co-expression of SLC and conventional light chains has been reported in a small population of autoreactive peripheral human B cells that accumulate in arthritic joints. Despite this association with autoimmunity the contribution of SLC expressing mature B cells to disease development is still unknown. We studied the pathogenicity of SLC(+) B cells in a panel of mice that transgenically express the SLC components VpreB and λ5 throughout B cell development. Here we report that although VpreB or λ5 expression mildly activated mature B cells, only moderate VpreB expression levels - in the absence of λ5 - enhanced IgG plasma cell formation. However, no autoantibody production was detectable in VpreB or λ5 transgenic mice and VpreB expression could not accelerate autoimmunity. Instead, moderate VpreB expression partially protected mice from induced autoimmune arthritis. In support of a tolerogenic role of SLC-transgenic B cells, we observed that in a dose-dependent manner SLC expression beyond the pre-B cell stage enhanced clonal deletion among immature and transitional B cells and rendered mature B cells anergic. These findings suggest that SLC expression does not propagate autoimmunity, but instead may impose tolerance.

Disruption of the preB Cell Receptor Complex Leads to Decreased Bone Mass.

In the bone marrow, preB cells are found adjacent to the bone endosteum where bone synthesizing osteoblast and bone resorbing osteoclasts reside. Although there is evidence of interactions between preB and bone cells, the factors that contribute to such interactions are poorly understood. A critical checkpoint for preB cell development assesses the integrity of the nascent immunoglobulin µ heavy chain (HC) by testing whether it can participate in the formation of a preB cell receptor (preBCR), composed of the µ HC and surrogate light chain (LC). In this work, we tested whether loss of preBCR components can affect bone synthesis. A panel of gene targeted mice with sequential blocks in preBCR formation or function [surrogate light chain component lambda 5 deleted (λ5-/-), transmembrane domain of µHC deleted (IgM-mem-/-), and CD19 preBCR co-receptor deleted (CD19-/-)] were evaluated for effects on postnatal bone synthesis. Postnatal bone mass was analyzed in 6 month old mice using µ-CT, histomorphometry and double calcein labeling. Both cortical and trabecular bone mass were significantly decreased in the femurs of the λ5 and IgM-mem deficient mice. Histomorphometric analysis showed a decrease in the numbers of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in all three mutant strains. Double calcein labeling revealed a significant decrease in dynamic synthesis and mineralization of bone in λ5-/- mice. Our data strongly suggest that interference with preBCR formation or function affects bone homeostasis independent of the presence or absence of mature B cells, and that components of the preBCR play important, and potentially distinct, roles in regulating adult bone mass.

B-1a cells acquire their unique characteristics by bypassing the pre-BCR selection stage.

B-1a cells are long-lived, self-renewing innate-like B cells that predominantly inhabit the peritoneal and pleural cavities. In contrast to conventional B-2 cells, B-1a cells have a receptor repertoire that is biased towards bacterial and self-antigens, promoting a rapid response to infection and clearing of apoptotic cells. Although B-1a cells are known to primarily originate from fetal tissues, the mechanisms by which they arise has been a topic of debate for many years. Here we show that in the fetal liver versus bone marrow environment, reduced IL-7R/STAT5 levels promote immunoglobulin kappa gene recombination at the early pro-B cell stage. As a result, differentiating B cells can directly generate a mature B cell receptor (BCR) and bypass the requirement for a pre-BCR and pairing with surrogate light chain. This 'alternate pathway' of development enables the production of B cells with self-reactive, skewed specificity receptors that are peculiar to the B-1a compartment. Together our findings connect seemingly opposing lineage and selection models of B-1a cell development and explain how these cells acquire their unique properties.

Inflammatory immune cells may impair the preBCR checkpoint, reduce new B cell production, and alter the antibody repertoire in old age.

Aging impairs development of new B cells and diminishes the expression of protective antibodies. Reduced numbers of B cell precursors generally occur in old (~2 yrs.) mice. At the pro-B to pre-B cell transition, the pre-B cell receptor (preBCR) checkpoint directs pre-B cell expansion and selection of the pre-B cell immunoglobulin (Ig) µ heavy chain variable region repertoire. The preBCR is comprised of Ig µ heavy chain + surrogate light chains (SLC; λ5/VpreB). In old B cell precursors, SLC is decreased and fewer pre-B cells form the preBCR. In pro-B cells, SLC is complexed with cadherin 17 to form a "pro-B cell receptor" whose signaling is postulated to increase apoptotic sensitivity. We propose that inflammation in old mice, in part mediated by the age-associated B cells (ABC), promotes apoptosis among pro-B cells, particularly those relatively high in SLC. The remaining pro-B cells, with lower SLC, now generate pre-B cells with limited capacity to form the preBCR. Ig µ heavy chains vary in their capacity to associate with SLC and form the preBCR. We speculate that limited SLC restricts formation of the preBCR to a subset of Ig µ heavy chains. This likely impacts the composition of the antibody repertoire among B cells.

An immunoproteomic approach revealed antigenic proteins enhancing serodiagnosis performance of bird fancier's lung.

BACKGROUND: Bird fancier's lung (BFL) caused by repeated inhalation of avian proteins is the most common form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. However, the exact identification of proteins involved is unknown, and serological test use for diagnosis need to be standardized. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify antigenic proteins from pigeon droppings (ii) to provide information about their location in avian matrices and (iii) to produce them in recombinant proteins to evaluate their diagnostic performances. METHOD: Antigenic proteins of pigeon dropping extracts were investigated using 2-dimensional immunoblotting with sera from patients with BFL, asymptomatic exposed controls and healthy volunteers. We investigated the origin of these antigenic proteins by analyzing droppings, blooms and sera using a shotgun proteomic analysis. BFL-associated proteins were produced as recombinant antigens in E. coli and were assessed in ELISA with sera from patients (n=25) and subject exposed controls (n=30). These diagnostic performances were compared with those obtained by precipitin techniques (agar gel double diffusion, immunoelectrophoresis). RESULTS: We identified 14 antigenic proteins mainly located in droppings and blooms. These proteins were involved in either the digestive or immune systems of pigeons. Using the recombinant BFL-associated proteins: Immunoglobulin lambda-like polypeptide-1 (IGLL1: sensitivity: 76%; specificity: 100%; AUC: 0.93) and Proproteinase E (ProE: sensitivity: 84%; specificity: 80%; AUC: 0.85), the ELISA test showed better performance than precipitin assays with pigeon dropping extracts (sensitivity: 60%; specificity: 93.3%; AUC: 0.76). CONCLUSION: IGLL1 and ProE were identified as the biomarkers of the disease. The use of these highly standardized antigens discriminates BFL cases from exposed subjects in serological assays. The results of this study offer new possibilities for the serological diagnosis of the disease. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: Identifier NCT03056404.

In aged mice, low surrogate light chain promotes pro-B-cell apoptotic resistance, compromises the PreBCR checkpoint, and favors generation of autoreactive, phosphorylcholine-specific B cells.

In aged mice, new B-cell development is diminished and the antibody repertoire becomes more autoreactive. Our studies suggest that (i) apoptosis contributes to reduced B lymphopoiesis in old age and preferentially eliminates those B-cell precursors with higher levels of the surrogate light chain (SLC) proteins (λ5/VpreB) and (ii) λ5(low) B-cell precursors generate new B cells which show increased reactivity to the self-antigen/bacterial antigen phosphorylcholine (PC). Pro-B cells in old bone marrow as well as pro-B cells from young adult λ5-deficient mice are resistant to cytokine-induced apoptosis (TNFα; TGFß), indicating that low λ5 expression in pro-B cells is sufficient to cause increased survival. Transfer of TNFα-producing 'age-associated B cells' (ABC; CD21/35(-) CD23(-)) or follicular (FO) B cells from aged mice into RAG-2 KO recipients led to preferential loss of λ5(high) pro-B cells, but retention of λ5(low), apoptosis-resistant pro-B cells. In old mice, there is increased reactivity to PC in both immature bone marrow B cells and mature splenic FO B cells. In young mice, absence of λ5 expression led to a similar increase in PC reactivity among bone marrow and splenic B cells. We propose that in old age, increased apoptosis, mediated in part by TNFα-producing B cells, results in preferential loss of SLC(high) pro-B cells within the bone marrow. Further B-cell development then occurs via an 'SLC(low)' pathway that not only impairs B-cell generation, but promotes autoreactivity within the naïve antibody repertoires in the bone marrow and periphery.

Broad feedback inhibition of pre-B-cell receptor signaling components.

During B lymphocyte development, first immunoglobulin heavy chain gene segments and then immunoglobulin light chain gene segments are rearranged to create antibody diversity. Early in the development, expression of a pre-B-cell receptor (pre-BCR) that has membrane-bound Ig heavy chain protein associated with surrogate light chain (SLC) proteins serves as a critical checkpoint that monitors for functional heavy chain rearrangement. Signaling from the pre-BCR induces survival and clonal expansion to select cells with good heavy chains, but it also down-regulates transcription of the genes for the SLC proteins and CD19 and limits its own proliferative signaling. Here we have analyzed whether the down-regulation is limited to the SLC proteins and CD19, and we show that the pre-BCR of primary mouse pre-B-cells instead is subject to a broad feedback inhibition of pre-BCR signaling components. Activation of signaling leads to down-regulation of the receptor proteins, many co-receptors and proteins participating in signal pathways from the receptor. Thus the down-regulation of the pre-BCR is much broader than previously assumed. We also show that Ca(2+)/calmodulin inhibition of the transcription factor E2A is required for the feedback inhibition of the pre-BCR signaling proteins.

The potential role of VPREB1 gene copy number variation in susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis.

Although the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unknown, it has been widely suggested that RA has a genetic background. In humans, a copy number loss of 22q11.2, a region harboring the VPREB1 gene, has been suggested to be associated with several immunologic disorders, but there has been no study on the copy number variation (CNV) of the VPREB1 and its potential association with RA. Here, we explored the association between the RA and the CNV of the VPREB1 gene by performing genomic quantitative PCR and quantification of B cell subsets in RA patients and controls. The proportion of the individuals with <2 copies of the VPREB1 gene was significantly higher in the patient group than that in the controls (12.9% vs 0.9%, p<0.0001), while that of the individuals with >2 copies was lower in the patient group than that in the controls (1.7% vs 18.9%, p<0.0001). The odds ratio (OR) of the individuals with <2 copies was significantly higher compared with the odds ratio of those individuals with 2 copies (OR=12.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.8-51.6). Likewise, the OR of the individuals with >2 copies was significantly lower than the OR of those individuals with 2 copies (OR=0.09, 95% CI 0.03-0.3). We also found that the proportion of CD21⁻CD23⁻ B cells was significantly higher in the RA patients compared with that of the controls (11.9% vs 5.7%, p=0.002), but the proportion of CD21+CD23+ cells was significantly lower in the RA patients (26.2% in RA vs 34.9% in the controls, p=0.005). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence showing the association between a low copy number of the VPREB1 gene and RA, and this may help understanding the pathogenesis of RA and other autoimmune disorders.

The unique and immunoglobulin-like regions of surrogate light chain component lambda5 differentially interrogate immunoglobulin heavy-chain structure.

PreBCR signaling is critical for B cell development and normally depends on the association of a nascent, component Ig H chain with the surrogate L chain (SLC), which helps ensure that only B cells that synthesize structurally sound antibody can develop. How the invariant and lambda-like SLC vets billions of unique V(H) domains for compatibility with polymorphic kappa and lambda L chains is unclear, because the SLC is composed of not only the Ig domains of VpreB and lambda5, but also the unique regions (URs) that reside at what would be the L chain CDR3. We evaluated the contribution of the Ig and UR domains of lambda5 to H chain screening by evaluating the preBCR-forming capability of lambda5 mutants with a diverse panel of H chains. Using transformed mouse B cells, we demonstrate that the Ig domain of lambda5 was sufficient and its UR dispensable for the rejection of V(H)Q52 and V(H)10 SLC-incompatible H chains. In contrast, the lambda5 UR was necessary to discriminate between SLC-incompatible and -compatible V(H)81X H chains. Substituting the Ig domains of lambda5 with equivalent kappa sequences impaired the SLC's ability to escort all H chains to the surface. Two SLC-incompatible H chains were able to form surface BCRs with two kappa L chains, indicating that the SLC's ability to predict the L chain compatibility of a H chain is not absolute. In sum, lambda5 differentially relies on the lambda-like Ig and UR to probe H chain structure to best accommodate diversity among H chains.

Calmodulin inhibition of E2A stops expression of surrogate light chains of the pre-B-cell receptor and CD19.

To create antibody diversity, B lymphocyte development is characterized by the ordered rearrangement of first immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain gene segments and then Ig light-chain gene segments. Early in B-cell development, expression of a pre-B-cell receptor (pre-BCR) composed of membrane-bound Ig heavy chain protein associated with surrogate light-chain (SLC) proteins serves as a critical checkpoint that monitors for functional heavy chain rearrangement. Signaling from the pre-BCR induces clonal expansion, but it also turns off transcription of the genes for the SLC proteins lambda5 and VpreB, which limits this proliferation. Here we show that signaling from the pre-BCR rapidly down-regulates lambda5 and VpreB and also the co-receptor CD19 in primary pre-B-cells. We show that calcium (Ca(2+)) signaling is essential for this silencing of the SLC and CD19 genes. The SLC genes are activated by the E2A transcription factor, and we show that E2A is required for pre-BCR-mediated regulation of the genes. E2A mutated in its binding site for the Ca(2+) sensor protein calmodulin, and thus with calmodulin-resistant DNA binding, makes lambda5, VpreB and CD19 expression resistant to the inhibition following pre-BCR activation. Thus, Ca(2+) down-regulates SLC and CD19 gene expression upon pre-BCR activation through inhibition of E2A by Ca(2+)/calmodulin.

Censoring of autoreactive B cell development by the pre-B cell receptor.

Antibody diversity occurs randomly as B cells recombine their immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy- and light-chain genes during development. This process inevitably generates reactivity against self structures, and several mechanisms prevent the development of autoreactive B cells. We report here a role for the pre-B cell receptor, composed of Ig heavy and surrogate light chains, in the negative selection of cells expressing Ig heavy chains with the potential to generate autoantibodies. Surrogate light-chain-deficient (SLC-/-) mice harbored elevated levels of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) in their serum and showed evidence of escape of pre-B cells expressing prototypic autoantibody heavy chains from negative selection, leading to mature autoantibody secreting CD21-CD23- B cells in the periphery. Thus, the pre-B cell receptor appears to censor the development of certain autoantibody-secreting cells and may represent an important factor in multifactorial autoimmune diseases.

Autoreactive B-1 B cells: constraints on natural autoantibody B cell antigen receptors.

B-1 B-cells constitute a distinctive population of cells that are enriched for self-reactive B cell receptors (BCRs). These BCRs are encoded by a restricted set of heavy and light chains, including heavy chains that lack nontemplated nucleotide additions at the V-D and D-J joining regions. One prototype natural autoantibody produced by B-1 B cells binds to a cryptic determinant exposed on senescent red blood cells that includes the phosphatidylcholine (PtC) moiety. The V(H)11Vkappa9 BCR, which accounts for a large fraction of the anti-PtC specificity, is underrepresented in other B-cell populations, including newly formed B cells in bone marrow, and the transitional B cells, follicular B cells, and marginal zone B cells in spleen. Previous work has shown that V(H)11 heavy chains pair ineffectively with surrogate light chain (SLC) and so do not promote development in bone marrow, but instead allow fetal liver maturation because of a fetal preference for weaker pre-BCR signaling. Such inefficient SLC pairing constitutes one constraint on the maturation of B cells containing V(H)11 rearrangements that biases their generation to fetal development. Here, we examine another possible bottleneck to the B1 cell repertoire: light chain pairing with V(H)11 heavy chain, finding very significant preferences.