Tonic B cell antigen receptor signals supply an NF-kappaB substrate for prosurvival BLyS signaling.

The survival of transitional and mature B cells requires both the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) and BLyS receptor 3 (BR3), which suggests that these receptors send signals that are nonredundant or that engage in crosstalk with each other. Here we show that BCR signaling induced production of the nonclassical transcription factor NF-kappaB pathway substrate p100, which is required for transmission of BR3 signals and thus B cell survival. The capacity for sustained p100 production emerged during transitional B cell differentiation, the stage at which BCR signals begin to mediate survival rather than negative selection. Our findings identify a molecular mechanism for the reliance of primary B cells on continuous BR3 and BCR signaling, as well as for the gradual resistance to negative selection that is acquired during B cell maturation.

CD19 and CD32b differentially regulate human B cell responsiveness.

B cell activation is regulated by a variety of signals. CD19 positively regulates B cell activation, augmenting signals delivered through the BCR complex. In contrast, CD32b contains an ITIM and negatively regulates BCR signaling. Importantly, there are drugs currently in clinical trials and preclinical development that cross-link CD32b to molecules within the BCR complex. We wanted to address how single engagement versus cotargeting these molecules affects human B cell function. When B cells from healthy individuals were activated by signals that mimic a T cell response (IL-21 costimulation), ligation of CD32b, but not CD19, inhibited B cell expansion and plasma cell (PC) differentiation. In contrast, when B cells were activated through TLR, anti-CD19, but not anti-CD32b, blunted the response. However, when both CD19 and CD32b were coengaged by a bispecific anti-CD19×CD32b Ab, both types of stimuli were potently inhibited. Cross-linking CD19 with CD32b also inhibited Ab-independent functions of B cells, such as HLA upregulation, cytokine production, and the ability of B cells to prime CD4(+) T cells. Finally, although cross-linking CD19 and CD32b inhibited PC differentiation of primary B cells, it did not alter Ig production from pre-established PCs. These data elucidate the mechanism by which a complex set of signals determines the fate of B cell responsiveness. Although signals through CD19 influence TLR-driven activation, CD32b impacts the magnitude of the response following IL-21 costimulation. Therefore, simultaneous targeting of multiple surface molecules may be a necessary approach to comprehensively modulate B cell activation in vivo.

Mycophenolic acid differentially impacts B cell function depending on the stage of differentiation.

Production of pathogenic Abs contributes to disease progression in many autoimmune disorders. The immunosuppressant agent mycophenolic acid (MPA) has shown clinical efficacy for patients with autoimmunity. The goal of these studies was to elucidate the mechanisms of action of MPA on B cells isolated from healthy individuals and autoimmune patients. In this study, we show that MPA significantly inhibited both proliferation and differentiation of primary human B cells stimulated under various conditions. Importantly, MPA did not globally suppress B cell responsiveness or simply induce cell death, but rather selectively inhibited early activation events and arrested cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle. Furthermore, MPA blocked expansion of both naive and memory B cells and prevented plasma cell (PC) differentiation and Ab production from healthy controls and individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. Finally, whereas MPA potently suppressed Ig secretion from activated primary B cells, terminally differentiated PCs were not susceptible to inhibition by MPA. The target of MPA, IMPDH2, was found to be downregulated in PCs, likely explaining the resistance of these cells to MPA. These results suggest that MPA provides benefit in settings of autoimmunity by directly preventing activation and PC differentiation of B cells; however, MPA is unlikely to impact autoantibody production by preexisting, long-lived PCs.

Analysis of the individual contributions of Igalpha (CD79a)- and Igbeta (CD79b)-mediated tonic signaling for bone marrow B cell development and peripheral B cell maturation.

The individual contribution of Igalpha and Igbeta for BCR-triggered fates is unclear. Prior evidence supports conflicting ideas concerning unique as well as redundant functions for these proteins in the context of BCR/pre-BCR signaling. Part of this ambiguity may reflect the recent appreciation that Igalpha and Igbeta participate in both Ag-independent (tonic) and Ag-dependent signaling. The present study undertook defining the individual requirement for Igalpha and Igbeta under conditions where only ligand-independent tonic signaling was operative. In this regard, we have constructed chimeric proteins containing one or two copies of the cytoplasmic domains of either Igalpha or Igbeta and Igalpha/Igbeta heterodimers with targeted Tyr-->Phe modifications. The ability of these proteins to act as surrogate receptors and trigger early bone marrow and peripheral B cell maturation was tested in RAG2(-/-) primary pro-B cell lines and in gene transfer experiments in the muMT mouse model. We considered that the threshold for a functional activity mediated by the pre-BCR/BCR might only be reached when two functional copies of the Igalpha/Igbeta ITAM domain are expressed together, and therefore the specificity conferred by these proteins can only be observed in these conditions. We found that the ligand-independent tonic signal is sufficient to drive development into mature follicular B cells and both Igalpha and Igbeta chains supported formation of this population. In contrast, neither marginal zone nor B1 mature B cell subsets develop from bone marrow precursors under conditions where only tonic signals are generated.

Membrane cholesterol content accounts for developmental differences in surface B cell receptor compartmentalization and signaling.

Recent studies argue for an important role for cholesterol in maintaining plasma membrane heterogeneity and influencing a variety of cellular processes, including signaling, adhesion, and permeability. Here, we document that tolerance-sensitive transitional immature B cells maintain significantly lower membrane unesterified cholesterol levels than mature-stage splenic B cells. In addition, the relatively low level of cholesterol in transitional immature B cells impairs compartmentalization of their B cell receptor (BCR) into cholesterol-enriched domains following BCR aggregation and reduces their ability to sustain certain aspects of BCR signaling as compared with mature B cells. These studies establish an unexpected difference in the lipid composition of peripheral transitional immature and mature B cells and point to a determining role for development-associated differences in cholesterol content for the differential responses of these B cells to BCR engagement.

Notch signaling is a potent inducer of growth arrest and apoptosis in a wide range of B-cell malignancies.

Although Notch receptor expression on malignant B cells is widespread, the effect of Notch signaling in these cells is poorly understood. To investigate Notch signaling in B-cell malignancy, we assayed the effect of Notch activation in multiple murine and human B-cell tumors, representing both immature and mature subtypes. Expression of constitutively active, truncated forms of the 4 mammalian Notch receptors (ICN1-4) inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in both murine and human B-cell lines but not T-cell lines. Similar results were obtained in human precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia lines when Notch activation was achieved by coculture with fibroblasts expressing the Notch ligands Jagged1 or Jagged2. All 4 truncated Notch receptors, as well as the Jagged ligands, induced Hes1 transcription. Retroviral expression of Hairy/Enhancer of Split-1 (Hes1) recapitulated the Notch effects, suggesting that Hes1 is an important mediator of Notch-induced growth arrest and apoptosis in B cells. Among the B-cell malignancies that were susceptible to Notch-mediated growth inhibition/apoptosis were mature B-cell and therapy-resistant B-cell malignancies, including Hodgkin, myeloma, and mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL)-translocated cell lines. These results suggest that therapies capable of activating Notch/Hes1 signaling may have therapeutic potential in a wide range of human B-cell malignancies.

The coiled-coil domain and Tyr177 of bcr are required to induce a murine chronic myelogenous leukemia-like disease by bcr/abl.

The bcr/abl fusion in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) creates a chimeric tyrosine kinase with dramatically different properties than intact c-abl. In P210 bcr/abl, the bcr portion includes a coiled-coil oligomerization domain (amino acids 1-63) and a grb2-binding site at tyrosine 177 (Tyr177) that are critical for fibroblast transformation, but give variable results in other cell lines. To investigate the role of the coiled-coil domain and Tyr177 in promoting CML, 4 P210 bcr/abl-derived mutants containing different bcr domains fused to abl were constructed. All 4 mutants, Delta(1-63) bcr/abl, (1-63) bcr/abl, Tyr177Phe bcr/abl, and (1-210) bcr/abl exhibited elevated tyrosine kinase activity and conferred factor-independent growth in cell lines. In contrast, differences in the transforming potential of the 4 mutants occurred in our mouse model, in which all mice receiving P210 bcr/abl-expressing bone marrow cells exclusively develop a myeloproliferative disease (MPD) resembling human CML. Of the 4 mutants assayed, only 1-210 bcr/abl, containing both the coiled-coil domain and Tyr177, induced MPD. Unlike full-length P210, this mutant also caused a simultaneous B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). The other 3 mutants, (1-63) bcr/abl, Tyr177Phe bcr/abl, and Delta(1-63) bcr/abl, failed to induce an MPD but instead caused T-cell ALL. These results show that both the bcr coiled-coil domain and Tyr177 are required for MPD induction by bcr/abl and provide the basis for investigating downstream signaling pathways that lead to CML.

Deltex1 redirects lymphoid progenitors to the B cell lineage by antagonizing Notch1.

Notch1 signaling drives T cell development at the expense of B cell development from a common precursor, an effect that is dependent on a C-terminal Notch1 transcriptional activation domain. The function of Deltex1, initially identified as a positive modulator of Notch function in a genetic screen in Drosophila, is poorly understood. We now demonstrate that, in contrast to Notch1, enforced expression of Deltex1 in hematopoietic progenitors results in B cell development at the expense of T cell development in fetal thymic organ culture and in vivo. Consistent with these effects, Deltex1 antagonizes Notch1 signaling in transcriptional reporter assays by inhibiting coactivator recruitment. These data suggest that a balance of inductive Notch1 signals and inhibitory signals mediated through Deltex1 and other modulators regulate T-B lineage commitment.