scholarly journals Dynamic changes in Id3 and E-protein activity orchestrate germinal center and plasma cell development

2016 ◽  
Vol 213 (6) ◽  
pp. 1095-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee Gloury ◽  
Dimitra Zotos ◽  
Malou Zuidscherwoude ◽  
Frederick Masson ◽  
Yang Liao ◽  
...  

The generation of high-affinity antibodies requires germinal center (GC) development and differentiation of long-lived plasma cells in a multilayered process that is tightly controlled by the activity of multiple transcription factors. Here, we reveal a new layer of complexity by demonstrating that dynamic changes in Id3 and E-protein activity govern both GC and plasma cell differentiation. We show that down-regulation of Id3 in B cells is essential for releasing E2A and E2-2, which in a redundant manner are required for antigen-induced B cell differentiation. We demonstrate that this pathway controls the expression of multiple key factors, including Blimp1, Xbp1, and CXCR4, and is therefore critical for establishing the transcriptional network that controls GC B cell and plasma cell differentiation.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 2821-2836
Author(s):  
Jennifer Shrimpton ◽  
Matthew A. Care ◽  
Jonathan Carmichael ◽  
Kieran Walker ◽  
Paul Evans ◽  
...  

Abstract Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare malignancy in which clonal B cells infiltrate the bone marrow and give rise to a smaller compartment of neoplastic plasma cells that secrete monoclonal immunoglobulin M paraprotein. Recent studies into underlying mutations in WM have enabled a much greater insight into the pathogenesis of this lymphoma. However, there is considerably less characterization of the way in which WM B cells differentiate and how they respond to immune stimuli. In this study, we assess WM B-cell differentiation using an established in vitro model system. Using T-cell–dependent conditions, we obtained CD138+ plasma cells from WM samples with a frequency similar to experiments performed with B cells from normal donors. Unexpectedly, a proportion of the WM B cells failed to upregulate CD38, a surface marker that is normally associated with plasmablast transition and maintained as the cells proceed with differentiation. In normal B cells, concomitant Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) activation and B-cell receptor cross-linking drives proliferation, followed by differentiation at similar efficiency to CD40-mediated stimulation. In contrast, we found that, upon stimulation with TLR7 agonist R848, WM B cells failed to execute the appropriate changes in transcriptional regulators, identifying an uncoupling of TLR signaling from the plasma cell differentiation program. Provision of CD40L was sufficient to overcome this defect. Thus, the limited clonotypic WM plasma cell differentiation observed in vivo may result from a strict requirement for integrated activation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Merino Tejero ◽  
Danial Lashgari ◽  
Rodrigo García-Valiente ◽  
Jiaojiao He ◽  
Philippe A. Robert ◽  
...  

Memory B cells and antibody-secreting plasma cells are generated within germinal centers during affinity maturation in which B-cell proliferation, selection, differentiation, and self-renewal play important roles. The mechanisms behind memory B cell and plasma cell differentiation in germinal centers are not well understood. However, it has been suggested that cell fate is (partially) determined by asymmetric cell division, which involves the unequal distribution of cellular components to both daughter cells. To investigate what level and/or probability of asymmetric segregation of several fate determinant molecules, such as the antigen and transcription factors (BCL6, IRF4, and BLIMP1) recapitulates the temporal switch and DZ-to-LZ ratio in the germinal center, we implemented a multiscale model that combines a core gene regulatory network for plasma cell differentiation with a model describing the cellular interactions and dynamics in the germinal center. Our simulations show that BLIMP1 driven plasma cell differentiation together with coupled asymmetric division of antigen and BLIMP1 with a large segregation between the daughter cells results in a germinal center DZ-to-LZ ratio and a temporal switch from memory B cells to plasma cells that have been observed in experiments.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 2946-2946
Author(s):  
Yangsheng Zhou ◽  
Xia Liu ◽  
Lian Xu ◽  
Zachary Hunter ◽  
Jenny Sun ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2946 Poster Board II-922 Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) is an incurable B cell disorder with a lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate in the bone marrow (BM) and IgM monoclonal gammopathy. WM tumor cells show variable differentiation, ranging from mature B-cells to plasma cells, which likely results from failure to fully undergo differentiation. In this study, we analyzed the expression of several genes involved in B cell differentiation by real time RT-PCR, such as Ets factors, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) E proteins, as well as the inhibitors of DNA binding (Id) proteins which antagonize E protein activity. Comparison of BM CD19+ B cells obtained from 13 WM patients with 6 age-matched healthy donors showed that expression of the Ets factor Spi-B was increased four-fold, while Id2 was decreased three-fold. However, transcript levels of E proteins were similar between the two groups. Transduction of Spi-B in BCWM.1 WM cells resulted in two-fold higher levels of Id2 and five-fold lower levels of E2-2 compared with control. Id2 transduced BCWM.1 cells expressed two-fold lower levels of E2-2 and Spi-B. Taken together, these results implicate that increased expression of Spi-B alone cannot suppress Id2 transcription in the absence of E2-2 activity. Interestingly, overexpressing Spi-B while concomitantly knocking down Id2 increased the expression of the XBP-1 splicing isoform 2.5-fold without changing levels of Blimp-1 and IRF4. Moreover, inhibition of Spi-B expression by RNA interference or forced expression of Id2 in transduced BCWM.1 cells induced a significant decrease of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2. Importantly, we also showed that Spi-B co-immunoprecipated with Blimp-1 in nuclear extracts. Collectively, these data suggest that the regulatory network of the Spi-B, E2-2, and Id2 plays an essential role in B cell differentiation as well as the pathogenesis of WM, and suggests that Spi-B overexpression may block WM cell differentiation by sequestration of Blimp-1 while promoting tumor cell survival though up-regulation of Bcl-2. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 115 (9) ◽  
pp. 1718-1726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghyath Maarof ◽  
Laurence Bouchet-Delbos ◽  
Hélène Gary-Gouy ◽  
Ingrid Durand-Gasselin ◽  
Roman Krzysiek ◽  
...  

Abstract Complex molecular mechanisms control B-cell fate to become a memory or a plasma cell. Interleukin-24 (IL-24) is a class II family cytokine of poorly understood immune function that regulates the cell cycle. We previously observed that IL-24 is strongly expressed in leukemic memory-type B cells. Here we show that IL-24 is also expressed in human follicular B cells; it is more abundant in CD27+ memory B cells and CD5-expressing B cells, whereas it is low to undetectable in centroblasts and plasma cells. Addition of IL-24 to B cells, cultured in conditions shown to promote plasma cell differentiation, strongly inhibited plasma cell generation and immunoglobulin G (IgG) production. By contrast, IL-24 siRNA increased terminal differentiation of B cells into plasma cells. IL-24 is optimally induced by BCR triggering and CD40 engagement; IL-24 increased CD40-induced B-cell proliferation and modulated the transcription of key factors involved in plasma cell differentiation. It also inhibited activation-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT-3), and inhibited the transcription of IL-10. Taken together, our results indicate that IL-24 is a novel cytokine involved in T-dependent antigen (Ag)–driven B-cell differentiation and suggest its physiologic role in favoring germinal center B-cell maturation in memory B cells at the expense of plasma cells.


2014 ◽  
Vol 211 (11) ◽  
pp. 2199-2212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Grötsch ◽  
Sebastian Brachs ◽  
Christiane Lang ◽  
Julia Luther ◽  
Anja Derer ◽  
...  

The cornerstone of humoral immunity is the differentiation of B cells into antibody-secreting plasma cells. This process is tightly controlled by a regulatory gene network centered on the transcriptional repressor B lymphocyte–induced maturation protein 1 (Blimp1). Proliferation of activated B cells is required to foster Blimp1 expression but needs to be terminated to avoid overshooting immune reactions. Activator protein 1 (AP-1) transcription factors become quickly up-regulated upon B cell activation. We demonstrate that Fra1, a Fos member of AP-1, enhances activation-induced cell death upon induction in activated B cells. Moreover, mice with B cell–specific deletion of Fra1 show enhanced plasma cell differentiation and exacerbated antibody responses. In contrast, transgenic overexpression of Fra1 blocks plasma cell differentiation and immunoglobulin production, which cannot be rescued by Bcl2. On the molecular level, Fra1 represses Blimp1 expression and interferes with binding of the activating AP-1 member c-Fos to the Blimp1 promoter. Conversely, overexpression of c-Fos in Fra1 transgenic B cells releases Blimp1 repression. As Fra1 lacks transcriptional transactivation domains, we propose that Fra1 inhibits Blimp1 expression and negatively controls plasma cell differentiation through binding to the Blimp1 promoter. In summary, we demonstrate that Fra1 negatively controls plasma cell differentiation by repressing Blimp1 expression.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 117 (22) ◽  
pp. 5907-5917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katerina Vrzalikova ◽  
Martina Vockerodt ◽  
Sarah Leonard ◽  
Andrew Bell ◽  
Wenbin Wei ◽  
...  

AbstractAn important pathogenic event in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphomas is the suppression of virus replication, which would otherwise lead to cell death. Because virus replication in B cells is intimately linked to their differentiation toward plasma cells, we asked whether the physiologic signals that drive normal B-cell differentiation are absent in EBV-transformed cells. We focused on BLIMP1α, a transcription factor that is required for plasma cell differentiation and that is inactivated in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. We show that BLIMP1α expression is down-regulated after EBV infection of primary germinal center B cells and that the EBV oncogene, latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1), is alone capable of inducing this down-regulation in these cells. Furthermore, the down-regulation of BLIMP1α by LMP-1 was accompanied by a partial disruption of the BLIMP1α transcriptional program, including the aberrant induction of MYC, the repression of which is required for terminal differentiation. Finally, we show that the ectopic expression of BLIMP1α in EBV-transformed cells can induce the viral lytic cycle. Our results suggest that LMP-1 expression in progenitor germinal center B cells could contribute to the pathogenesis of EBV-associated lymphomas by down-regulating BLIMP1α, in turn preventing plasma cell differentiation and induction of the viral lytic cycle.


2014 ◽  
Vol 211 (5) ◽  
pp. 827-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Chevrier ◽  
Dianne Emslie ◽  
Wei Shi ◽  
Tobias Kratina ◽  
Cameron Wellard ◽  
...  

The transcriptional network regulating antibody-secreting cell (ASC) differentiation has been extensively studied, but our current understanding is limited. The mechanisms of action of known “master” regulators are still unclear, while the participation of new factors is being revealed. Here, we identify Zbtb20, a Bcl6 homologue, as a novel regulator of late B cell development. Within the B cell lineage, Zbtb20 is specifically expressed in B1 and germinal center B cells and peaks in long-lived bone marrow (BM) ASCs. Unlike Bcl6, an inhibitor of ASC differentiation, ectopic Zbtb20 expression in primary B cells facilitates terminal B cell differentiation to ASCs. In plasma cell lines, Zbtb20 induces cell survival and blocks cell cycle progression. Immunized Zbtb20-deficient mice exhibit curtailed humoral responses and accelerated loss of antigen-specific plasma cells, specifically from the BM pool. Strikingly, Zbtb20 induction does not require Blimp1 but depends directly on Irf4, acting at a newly identified Zbtb20 promoter in ASCs. These results identify Zbtb20 as an important player in late B cell differentiation and provide new insights into this complex process.


Author(s):  
Shan Zeng ◽  
Qian Qiu ◽  
Yi Zhou ◽  
Youjun Xiao ◽  
Jingnan Wang ◽  
...  

Background and purpose: To investigate the role of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (Brd4) in regulating B cell differentiation and its therapeutic potential for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Experimental Approach: Human and murine B cells were purified and cultured with different stimuli. B cell surface markers, proliferation and apoptosis were estimated by flow cytometry. Gene expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Brd4 binding sites were analysed by the luciferase reporter assay and the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. PFI-1 or JQ1 was used to inhibit Brd4. Mice with B cell-specific deletion of the Brd4 gene (Brd4flox/floxCD19-Cre+/-) and MRL/lpr mice were used to perform the in vivo experiments. Key Results: Brd4 inhibition suppressed plasmablast-mediated plasma cell differentiation but did not influence proliferation or apoptosis in healthy human and murine CD19+ B cells. PFI-1 treatment reduced the secretion of IgG and IgM in the supernatants of costimulation-induced B cells. Mechanistically, Brd4 regulates the terminal differentiation of B cells into plasma cells by targeting BLIMP1 by directly binding and activating the endogenous BLIMP1 promoter. Interestingly, PFI-1 treatment decreased the percentages of plasmablasts and plasma cells from patients with SLE. PFI-1 administration reduced the percentages of plasma cells, hypergammaglobulinemia and attenuated nephritis in MRL/lpr mice. Pristane-injected Brd4flox/floxCD19-Cre+/- mice exhibited improved nephritis and reduced percentages of plasma cells. Conclusions and Implications: Brd4 is an essential factor in regulating plasma cell differentiation. Brd4 inhibition may be a potential new strategy for the treatment of B cell-associated autoimmune disorders, including SLE.


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