It's Hard to Teach an Old B Cell New Tricks.

Victora and colleagues challenge current perceptions that memory B cells readily participate in secondary germinal center reactions, allowing further modification of specificity upon reactivation. Rather, naïve B cells are the predominant B cell type that populate secondary germinal centers. This work has important basic immunological and translational implications.

Antibiotics-Driven Gut Microbiome Perturbation Alters Immunity to Vaccines in Humans.

Emerging evidence indicates a central role for the microbiome in immunity. However, causal evidence in humans is sparse. Here, we administered broad-spectrum antibiotics to healthy adults prior and subsequent to seasonal influenza vaccination. Despite a 10,000-fold reduction in gut bacterial load and long-lasting diminution in bacterial diversity, antibody responses were not significantly affected. However, in a second trial of subjects with low pre-existing antibody titers, there was significant impairment in H1N1-specific neutralization and binding IgG1 and IgA responses. In addition, in both studies antibiotics treatment resulted in (1) enhanced inflammatory signatures (including AP-1/NR4A expression), observed previously in the elderly, and increased dendritic cell activation; (2) divergent metabolic trajectories, with a 1,000-fold reduction in serum secondary bile acids, which was highly correlated with AP-1/NR4A signaling and inflammasome activation. Multi-omics integration revealed significant associations between bacterial species and metabolic phenotypes, highlighting a key role for the microbiome in modulating human immunity.

Proinflammatory IgG Fc structures in patients with severe COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections can cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which manifests with a range of severities from mild illness to life-threatening pneumonia and multi-organ failure. Severe COVID-19 is characterized by an inflammatory signature, including high levels of inflammatory cytokines, alveolar inflammatory infiltrates and vascular microthrombi. Here we show that patients with severe COVID-19 produced a unique serologic signature, including an increased likelihood of IgG1 with afucosylated Fc glycans. This Fc modification on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 IgGs enhanced interactions with the activating Fcγ receptor FcγRIIIa; when incorporated into immune complexes, Fc afucosylation enhanced production of inflammatory cytokines by monocytes, including interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor. These results show that disease severity in COVID-19 correlates with the presence of proinflammatory IgG Fc structures, including afucosylated IgG1.

Antibody modulation of B cell responses-Incorporating positive and negative feedback.

Antibodies are powerful modulators of ongoing and future B cell responses. While the concept of antibody feedback has been appreciated for over a century, the topic has seen a surge in interest due to the evidence that the broadening of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 after a third mRNA vaccination is a consequence of antibody feedback. Moreover, the discovery that slow antigen delivery can lead to more robust humoral immunity has put a spotlight on the capacity for early antibodies to augment B cell responses. Here, we review the mechanisms whereby antibody feedback shapes B cell responses, integrating findings in humans and in mouse models. We consider the major influence of epitope masking and the diverse actions of complement and Fc receptors and provide a framework for conceptualizing the ways antigen-specific antibodies may influence B cell responses to any form of antigen, in conditions as diverse as infectious disease, autoimmunity, and cancer.

Influenza Infection in Humans Induces Broadly Cross-Reactive and Protective Neuraminidase-Reactive Antibodies.

Antibodies to the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) glycoproteins are the major mediators of protection against influenza virus infection. Here, we report that current influenza vaccines poorly display key NA epitopes and rarely induce NA-reactive B cells. Conversely, influenza virus infection induces NA-reactive B cells at a frequency that approaches (H1N1) or exceeds (H3N2) that of HA-reactive B cells. NA-reactive antibodies display broad binding activity spanning the entire history of influenza A virus circulation in humans, including the original pandemic strains of both H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes. The antibodies robustly inhibit the enzymatic activity of NA, including oseltamivir-resistant variants, and provide robust prophylactic protection, including against avian H5N1 viruses, in vivo. When used therapeutically, NA-reactive antibodies protected mice from lethal influenza virus challenge even 48 hr post infection. These findings strongly suggest that influenza vaccines should be optimized to improve targeting of NA for durable and broad protection against divergent influenza strains.

Profiling B cell immunodominance after SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals antibody evolution to non-neutralizing viral targets.

Dissecting the evolution of memory B cells (MBCs) against SARS-CoV-2 is critical for understanding antibody recall upon secondary exposure. Here, we used single-cell sequencing to profile SARS-CoV-2-reactive B cells in 38 COVID-19 patients. Using oligo-tagged antigen baits, we isolated B cells specific to the SARS-CoV-2 spike, nucleoprotein (NP), open reading frame 8 (ORF8), and endemic human coronavirus (HCoV) spike proteins. SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific cells were enriched in the memory compartment of acutely infected and convalescent patients several months post symptom onset. With severe acute infection, substantial populations of endemic HCoV-reactive antibody-secreting cells were identified and possessed highly mutated variable genes, signifying preexisting immunity. Finally, MBCs exhibited pronounced maturation to NP and ORF8 over time, especially in older patients. Monoclonal antibodies against these targets were non-neutralizing and non-protective in vivo. These findings reveal antibody adaptation to non-neutralizing intracellular antigens during infection, emphasizing the importance of vaccination for inducing neutralizing spike-specific MBCs.

Germinal center selection and the antibody response to influenza.

In this Minireview, we discuss basic aspects of germinal center biology in the context of immunity to influenza infection and speculate on how the simultaneous evolutionary races of virus and antibody may impact our efforts to design a universal influenza vaccine.

Polyreactive Broadly Neutralizing B cells Are Selected to Provide Defense against Pandemic Threat Influenza Viruses.

Polyreactivity is the ability of a single antibody to bind to multiple molecularly distinct antigens and is a common feature of antibodies induced upon pathogen exposure. However, little is known about the role of polyreactivity during anti-influenza virus antibody responses. By analyzing more than 500 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) derived from B cells induced by numerous influenza virus vaccines and infections, we found mAbs targeting conserved neutralizing influenza virus hemagglutinin epitopes were polyreactive. Polyreactive mAbs were preferentially induced by novel viral exposures due to their broad viral binding breadth. Polyreactivity augmented mAb viral binding strength by increasing antibody flexibility, allowing for adaption to imperfectly conserved epitopes. Lastly, we found affinity-matured polyreactive B cells were typically derived from germline polyreactive B cells that were preferentially selected to participate in B cell responses over time. Together, our data reveal that polyreactivity is a beneficial feature of antibodies targeting conserved epitopes.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies target a haemagglutinin anchor epitope.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies that target epitopes of haemagglutinin on the influenza virus have the potential to provide near universal protection against influenza virus infection1. However, viral mutants that escape broadly neutralizing antibodies have been reported2,3. The identification of broadly neutralizing antibody classes that can neutralize viral escape mutants is critical for universal influenza virus vaccine design. Here we report a distinct class of broadly neutralizing antibodies that target a discrete membrane-proximal anchor epitope of the haemagglutinin stalk domain. Anchor epitope-targeting antibodies are broadly neutralizing across H1 viruses and can cross-react with H2 and H5 viruses that are a pandemic threat. Antibodies that target this anchor epitope utilize a highly restricted repertoire, which encodes two public binding motifs that make extensive contacts with conserved residues in the fusion peptide. Moreover, anchor epitope-targeting B cells are common in the human memory B cell repertoire and were recalled in humans by an oil-in-water adjuvanted chimeric haemagglutinin vaccine4,5, which is a potential universal influenza virus vaccine. To maximize protection against seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses, vaccines should aim to boost this previously untapped source of broadly neutralizing antibodies that are widespread in the human memory B cell pool.

A hybrid demultiplexing strategy that improves performance and robustness of cell hashing.

Cell hashing, a nucleotide barcode-based method that allows users to pool multiple samples and demultiplex in downstream analysis, has gained widespread popularity in single-cell sequencing due to its compatibility, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness. Despite these advantages, the performance of this method remains unsatisfactory under certain circumstances, especially in experiments that have imbalanced sample sizes or use many hashtag antibodies. Here, we introduce a hybrid demultiplexing strategy that increases accuracy and cell recovery in multi-sample single-cell experiments. This approach correlates the results of cell hashing and genetic variant clustering, enabling precise and efficient cell identity determination without additional experimental costs or efforts. In addition, we developed HTOreader, a demultiplexing tool for cell hashing that improves the accuracy of cut-off calling by avoiding the dominance of negative signals in experiments with many hashtags or imbalanced sample sizes. When compared to existing methods using real-world datasets, this hybrid approach and HTOreader consistently generate reliable results with increased accuracy and cell recovery.

IgG3 subclass antibodies recognize antigenically drifted influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2 variants through efficient bivalent binding.

The constant domains of antibodies are important for effector functions, but less is known about how they can affect binding and neutralization of viruses. Here, we evaluated a panel of human influenza virus monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) expressed as IgG1, IgG2, or IgG3. We found that many influenza virus-specific mAbs have altered binding and neutralization capacity depending on the IgG subclass encoded and that these differences result from unique bivalency capacities of the subclasses. Importantly, subclass differences in antibody binding and neutralization were greatest when the affinity for the target antigen was reduced through antigenic mismatch. We found that antibodies expressed as IgG3 bound and neutralized antigenically drifted influenza viruses more effectively. We obtained similar results using a panel of SARS-CoV-2-specific mAbs and the antigenically advanced B.1.351 and BA.1 strains of SARS-CoV-2. We found that a licensed therapeutic mAb retained neutralization breadth against SARS-CoV-2 variants when expressed as IgG3, but not IgG1. These data highlight that IgG subclasses are not only important for fine-tuning effector functionality but also for binding and neutralization of antigenically drifted viruses.

Germline-encoded specificities and the predictability of the B cell response.

Antibodies result from the competition of B cell lineages evolving under selection for improved antigen recognition, a process known as affinity maturation. High-affinity antibodies to pathogens such as HIV, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2 are frequently reported to arise from B cells whose receptors, the precursors to antibodies, are encoded by particular immunoglobulin alleles. This raises the possibility that the presence of particular germline alleles in the B cell repertoire is a major determinant of the quality of the antibody response. Alternatively, initial differences in germline alleles' propensities to form high-affinity receptors might be overcome by chance events during affinity maturation. We first investigate these scenarios in simulations: when germline-encoded fitness differences are large relative to the rate and effect size variation of somatic mutations, the same germline alleles persistently dominate the response of different individuals. In contrast, if germline-encoded advantages can be easily overcome by subsequent mutations, allele usage becomes increasingly divergent over time, a pattern we then observe in mice experimentally infected with influenza virus. We investigated whether affinity maturation might nonetheless strongly select for particular amino acid motifs across diverse genetic backgrounds, but we found no evidence of convergence to similar CDR3 sequences or amino acid substitutions. These results suggest that although germline-encoded specificities can lead to similar immune responses between individuals, diverse evolutionary routes to high affinity limit the genetic predictability of responses to infection and vaccination.

Memory B cell diversity: insights for optimized vaccine design.

The overarching logos of mammalian memory B cells (MBCs) is to cache the potential for enhanced antibody production upon secondary exposure to cognate antigenic determinants. However, substantial phenotypic diversity has been identified across MBCs, hinting at the existence of unique origins or subfunctions within this compartment. Herein, we discuss recent advancements in human circulatory MBC subphenotyping as driven by high-throughput cell surface marker analysis and other approaches, as well as speculated and substantiated subfunctions. With this in mind, we hypothesize that the relative induction of specific circulatory MBC subsets might be used as a biomarker for optimally durable vaccines and inform vaccination strategies to subvert antigenic imprinting in the context of highly mutable pathogens such as influenza virus or SARS-CoV-2.

Taking the Broad View on B Cell Affinity Maturation.

Germinal center (GC) responses are required for the generation of high-affinity antigen-specific B cells. Kuraoka et al. (2016) explore the importance of inter-clonal competition in GC affinity maturation through the use of complex immunizing antigens and discover an unexpected increase in clonal diversity over the course of the response.

Preliminary Findings From the Dynamics of the Immune Responses to Repeat Influenza Vaccination Exposures (DRIVE I) Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Studies have reported that repeated annual vaccination may influence influenza vaccination effectiveness in the current season. METHODS: We established a 5-year randomized placebo-controlled trial of repeated influenza vaccination (Flublok; Sanofi Pasteur) in adults 18-45 years of age. In the first 2 years, participants were randomized to receive vaccine or saline placebo as follows: placebo-placebo (P-P), placebo-vaccine (P-V), or vaccine-vaccine (V-V). Serum samples were collected each year just before vaccination and after 30 and 182 days. A subset of serum samples collected at 5 time points from 95 participants were tested for antibodies against vaccine strains. RESULTS: From 23 October 2020 through 11 March 2021 we enrolled and randomized 447 adults. Among vaccinated individuals, antibody titers increased between days 0 and 30 against each of the vaccine strains, with smaller increases for repeat vaccinees who on average had higher prevaccination titers in year 2. There were statistically significant differences in the proportions of participants achieving ≥4-fold rises in antibody titer for the repeat vaccinees for influenza A(H1N1), B/Victoria, and B/Yamagata, but not for A(H3N2). Among participants who received vaccination in year 2, there were no significant differences between the P-V and V-V groups in geometric mean titers at day 30 or the proportions of participants with antibody titers ≥40 at day 30 for any of the vaccine strains. CONCLUSIONS: In the first 2 years, during which influenza did not circulate, repeat and first-time vaccinees had similar postvaccination geometric mean titers to all 4 vaccine strains, indicative of similar levels of clinical protection. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT04576377.

Librator: a platform for the optimized analysis, design, and expression of mutable influenza viral antigens.

Artificial mutagenesis and protein engineering have laid the foundation for antigenic characterization and universal vaccine design for influenza viruses. However, many methods used in this process require manual sequence editing and protein expression, limiting their efficiency and utility in high-throughput applications. More streamlined in silico tools allowing researchers to properly analyze and visualize influenza viral protein sequences with accurate nomenclature are necessary to improve antigen design and productivity. To address this need, we developed Librator, a system for analyzing and designing custom protein sequences of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) glycoproteins. Within Librator's graphical interface, users can easily interrogate viral sequences and phylogenies, visualize antigen structures and conservation, mutate target residues and design custom antigens. Librator also provides optimized fragment design for Gibson Assembly of HA and NA expression constructs based on peptide conservation of all historical HA and NA sequences, ensuring fragments are reusable and compatible across related subtypes, thereby promoting reagent savings. Finally, the program facilitates single-cell immune profiling, epitope mapping of monoclonal antibodies and mosaic protein design. Using Librator-based antigen construction, we demonstrate that antigenicity can be readily transferred between HA molecules of H3, but not H1, lineage viruses. Altogether, Librator is a valuable tool for analyzing influenza virus HA and NA proteins and provides an efficient resource for optimizing recombinant influenza antigen synthesis.

Innate and Adaptive Humoral Responses Coat Distinct Commensal Bacteria with Immunoglobulin A.

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is prominently secreted at mucosal surfaces and coats a fraction of the intestinal microbiota. However, the commensal bacteria bound by IgA are poorly characterized and the type of humoral immunity they elicit remains elusive. We used bacterial flow cytometry coupled with 16S rRNA gene sequencing (IgA-Seq) in murine models of immunodeficiency to identify IgA-bound bacteria and elucidate mechanisms of commensal IgA targeting. We found that residence in the small intestine, rather than bacterial identity, dictated induction of specific IgA. Most commensals elicited strong T-independent (TI) responses that originated from the orphan B1b lineage and from B2 cells, but excluded natural antibacterial B1a specificities. Atypical commensals including segmented filamentous bacteria and Mucispirillum evaded TI responses but elicited T-dependent IgA. These data demonstrate exquisite targeting of distinct commensal bacteria by multiple layers of humoral immunity and reveal a specialized function of the B1b lineage in TI mucosal IgA responses.

Influenza hemagglutinin-specific IgA Fc-effector functionality is restricted to stalk epitopes.

In this study, we utilized a panel of human immunoglobulin (Ig) IgA monoclonal antibodies isolated from the plasmablasts of eight donors after 2014/2015 influenza virus vaccination (Fluarix) to study the binding and functional specificities of this isotype. In this cohort, isolated IgA monoclonal antibodies were primarily elicited against the hemagglutinin protein of the H1N1 component of the vaccine. To compare effector functionalities, an H1-specific subset of antibodies targeting distinct epitopes were expressed as monomeric, dimeric, or secretory IgA, as well as in an IgG1 backbone. When expressed with an IgG Fc domain, all antibodies elicited Fc-effector activity in a primary polymorphonuclear cell-based assay which differs from previous observations that found only stalk-specific antibodies activate the low-affinity FcγRIIIa. However, when expressed with IgA Fc domains, only antibodies targeting the stalk domain showed Fc-effector activity in line with these previous findings. To identify the cause of this discrepancy, we then confirmed that IgG signaling through the high-affinity FcγI receptor was not restricted to stalk epitopes. Since no corresponding high-affinity Fcα receptor exists, the IgA repertoire may therefore be limited to stalk-specific epitopes in the context of Fc receptor signaling.