RESUMEN
Antibody variable regions are composed of a heavy and a light chain, and in humans, there are two light chain isotypes: kappa and lambda. Despite their importance in receptor editing, the light chain is often overlooked in the antibody literature, with the focus being on the heavy chain complementarity-determining region (CDR)-H3 region. In this paper, we set out to investigate the physicochemical and structural differences between human kappa and lambda light chain CDR regions. We constructed a dataset containing over 29,000 light chain variable region sequences from IgM-transcribing, newly formed B cells isolated from human bone marrow and peripheral blood. We also used a published human naïve dataset to investigate the CDR-H3 properties of heavy chains paired with kappa and lambda light chains and probed the Protein Data Bank to investigate the structural differences between kappa and lambda antibody CDR regions. We found that kappa and lambda light chains have very different CDR physicochemical and structural properties, whereas the heavy chains with which they are paired do not differ significantly. We also observed that the mean CDR3 N nucleotide addition in the kappa, lambda, and heavy chain gene rearrangements are correlated within donors but can differ between donors. This indicates that terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase may work with differing efficiencies between different people but the same efficiency in the different classes of immunoglobulin chain within one person. We have observed large differences in the physicochemical and structural properties of kappa and lambda light chain CDR regions. This may reflect different roles in the humoral immune response.
RESUMEN
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a disease caused by Leishmania infantum, which is transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. Dogs are the main urban reservoir of this parasite and the disease presents similar characteristics in both humans and dogs. In this paper, we investigated the potential pathways involved in plasma cell replacement of normal cell populations in the spleen, with respect to disease severity in dogs from an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis. To this end, canine spleen samples were grouped into three categories: TYPE1SC- (non-infected dogs or without active infection with organized white pulp), TYPE1SC+ (infected dogs with organized white pulp) or TYPE3SC+ (infected animals with disorganized white pulp). We analyzed the distribution of different plasma cell isotypes (IgA, IgG and IgM) in the spleen. The expression of cytokines and chemokines involved in plasma cell homing and survival were assessed by real time RT-PCR. Polyclonal B cell activation and hypergammaglobulinemia were also evaluated. The proportion of animals with moderate or intense plasmacytosis was higher in the TYPE3SC+ group than in the other groups (Fisher test, P<0.05). This was mainly due to a higher density of IgG+ plasma cells in the red pulp of this group. The albumin/globulin ratio was lower in the TYPE3SC+ animals than in the TYPE1SC- or TYPE1SC+ animals, which evidences VL-associated dysproteinemia. Interestingly, TYPE3SC+ animals showed increased expression of the BAFF and APRIL cytokines, as well as chemokine CXCL12. Aberrant expression of BAFF, APRIL and CXCL12, together with amplified extrafollicular B cell activation, lead to plasma cell homing and the extended survival of these cells in the splenic red pulp compartment. These changes in the distribution of immunocompetent cells in the spleen may contribute to the progression of VL, and impair the spleen's ability to protect against blood borne pathogens.
