Spatiotemporal regulation of type I interferon expression determines the antiviral polarization of CD4+ T cells.

Differentiation of CD4+ T cells into either follicular helper T (TFH) or type 1 helper T (TH1) cells influences the balance between humoral and cellular adaptive immunity, but the mechanisms whereby pathogens elicit distinct effector cells are incompletely understood. Here we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of CD4+ T cells during infection with recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which induces early, potent neutralizing antibodies, or recombinant lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), which induces a vigorous cellular response but inefficient neutralizing antibodies, expressing the same T cell epitope. Early exposure of dendritic cells to type I interferon (IFN), which occurred during infection with VSV, induced production of the cytokine IL-6 and drove TFH cell polarization, whereas late exposure to type I IFN, which occurred during infection with LCMV, did not induce IL-6 and allowed differentiation into TH1 cells. Thus, tight spatiotemporal regulation of type I IFN shapes antiviral CD4+ T cell differentiation and might instruct vaccine design strategies.

Inflammatory monocytes hinder antiviral B cell responses.

Antibodies are critical for protection against viral infections. However, several viruses, such as lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), avoid the induction of early protective antibody responses by poorly understood mechanisms. Here we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of B cell activation to show that, upon subcutaneous infection, LCMV-specific B cells readily relocate to the interfollicular and T cell areas of the draining lymph node where they extensively interact with CD11b+Ly6Chi inflammatory monocytes. These myeloid cells were recruited to lymph nodes draining LCMV infection sites in a type I interferon-, CCR2-dependent fashion and they suppressed antiviral B cell responses by virtue of their ability to produce nitric oxide. Depletion of inflammatory monocytes, inhibition of their lymph node recruitment or impairment of their nitric oxide-producing ability enhanced LCMV-specific B cell survival and led to robust neutralizing antibody production. In conclusion, our results identify inflammatory monocytes as critical gatekeepers that prevent antiviral B cell responses and suggest that certain viruses take advantage of these cells to prolong their persistence within the host.