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Tunable dynamics of B cell selection in gut germinal centres

Nowosad, Carla R; Mesin, Luka; Castro, Tiago B R; Wichmann, Christopher; Donaldson, Gregory P; Araki, Tatsuya; Schiepers, Ariën; Lockhart, Ainsley A K; Bilate, Angelina M; Mucida, Daniel; Victora, Gabriel D
Germinal centres, the structures in which B cells evolve to produce antibodies with high affinity for various antigens, usually form transiently in lymphoid organs in response to infection or immunization. In lymphoid organs associated with the gut, however, germinal centres are chronically present. These gut-associated germinal centres can support targeted antibody responses to gut infections and immunization1. But whether B cell selection and antibody affinity maturation take place in the face of the chronic and diverse antigenic stimulation characteristic of these structures under steady state is less clear2-8. Here, by combining multicolour 'Brainbow' cell-fate mapping and sequencing of immunoglobulin genes from single cells, we find that 5-10% of gut-associated germinal centres from specific-pathogen-free (SPF) mice contain highly dominant 'winner' B cell clones at steady state, despite rapid turnover of germinal-centre B cells. Monoclonal antibodies derived from these clones show increased binding, compared with their unmutated precursors, to commensal bacteria, consistent with antigen-driven selection. The frequency of highly selected gut-associated germinal centres is markedly higher in germ-free than in SPF mice, and winner B cells in germ-free germinal centres are enriched in 'public' clonotypes found in multiple individuals, indicating strong selection of B cell antigen receptors even in the absence of microbiota. Colonization of germ-free mice with a defined microbial consortium (Oligo-MM12) does not eliminate germ-free-associated clonotypes, yet does induce a concomitant commensal-specific B cell response with the hallmarks of antigen-driven selection. Thus, positive selection of B cells can take place in steady-state gut-associated germinal centres, at a rate that is tunable over a wide range by the presence and composition of the microbiota.
PMCID:7726069
PMID: 33116306
ISSN: 1476-4687
CID: 4947312

Germinal center B cells recognize antigen through a specialized immune synapse architecture

Nowosad, Carla R; Spillane, Katelyn M; Tolar, Pavel
B cell activation is regulated by B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling and antigen internalization in immune synapses. Using large-scale imaging across B cell subsets, we found that, in contrast with naive and memory B cells, which gathered antigen toward the synapse center before internalization, germinal center (GC) B cells extracted antigen by a distinct pathway using small peripheral clusters. Both naive and GC B cell synapses required proximal BCR signaling, but GC cells signaled less through the protein kinase C-β-NF-κB pathway and produced stronger tugging forces on the BCR, thereby more stringently regulating antigen binding. Consequently, GC B cells extracted antigen with better affinity discrimination than naive B cells, suggesting that specialized biomechanical patterns in B cell synapses regulate T cell-dependent selection of high-affinity B cells in GCs.
PMCID:4943528
PMID: 27183103
ISSN: 1529-2916
CID: 4947262

Dynamic regulation of TFH selection during the germinal centre reaction

Merkenschlager, Julia; Finkin, Shlomo; Ramos, Victor; Kraft, Julian; Cipolla, Melissa; Nowosad, Carla R; Hartweger, Harald; Zhang, Wenzhu; Olinares, Paul Dominic B; Gazumyan, Anna; Oliveira, Thiago Y; Chait, Brian T; Nussenzweig, Michel C
The germinal centre is a dynamic microenvironment in which B cells that express high-affinity antibody variants produced by somatic hypermutation are selected for clonal expansion by limiting the numbers of T follicular helper cells1,2. Although much is known about the mechanisms that control the selection of B cells in the germinal centre, far less is understood about the clonal behaviour of the T follicular helper cells that help to regulate this process. Here we report on the dynamic behaviour of T follicular helper cell clones during the germinal centre reaction. We find that, similar to germinal centre B cells, T follicular helper cells undergo antigen-dependent selection throughout the germinal centre reaction that results in differential proliferative expansion and contraction. Increasing the amount of antigen presented in the germinal centre leads to increased division of T follicular helper cells. Competition between T follicular helper cell clones is mediated by the affinity of T cell receptors for peptide-major-histocompatibility-complex ligands. T cells that preferentially expand in the germinal centre show increased expression of genes downstream of the T cell receptor, such as those required for metabolic reprogramming, cell division and cytokine production. These dynamic changes lead to marked remodelling of the functional T follicular helper cell repertoire during the germinal centre reaction.
PMCID:7979475
PMID: 33536617
ISSN: 1476-4687
CID: 4947322

Class-Switch Recombination Occurs Infrequently in Germinal Centers

Roco, Jonathan A; Mesin, Luka; Binder, Sebastian C; Nefzger, Christian; Gonzalez-Figueroa, Paula; Canete, Pablo F; Ellyard, Julia; Shen, Qian; Robert, Philippe A; Cappello, Jean; Vohra, Harpreet; Zhang, Yang; Nowosad, Carla R; Schiepers, Arien; Corcoran, Lynn M; Toellner, Kai-Michael; Polo, Jose M; Meyer-Hermann, Michael; Victora, Gabriel D; Vinuesa, Carola G
Class-switch recombination (CSR) is a DNA recombination process that replaces the immunoglobulin (Ig) constant region for the isotype that can best protect against the pathogen. Dysregulation of CSR can cause self-reactive BCRs and B cell lymphomas; understanding the timing and location of CSR is therefore important. Although CSR commences upon T cell priming, it is generally considered a hallmark of germinal centers (GCs). Here, we have used multiple approaches to show that CSR is triggered prior to differentiation into GC B cells or plasmablasts and is greatly diminished in GCs. Despite finding a small percentage of GC B cells expressing germline transcripts, phylogenetic trees of GC BCRs from secondary lymphoid organs revealed that the vast majority of CSR events occurred prior to the onset of somatic hypermutation. As such, we have demonstrated the existence of IgM-dominated GCs, which are unlikely to occur under the assumption of ongoing switching.
PMID: 31375460
ISSN: 1097-4180
CID: 4947302

MHC class II cell-autonomously regulates self-renewal and differentiation of normal and malignant B cells

Merkenschlager, Julia; Eksmond, Urszula; Danelli, Luca; Attig, Jan; Young, George R; Nowosad, Carla; Tolar, Pavel; Kassiotis, George
Best known for presenting antigenic peptides to CD4+ T cells, major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) also transmits or may modify intracellular signals. Here, we show that MHC II cell-autonomously regulates the balance between self-renewal and differentiation in B-cell precursors, as well as in malignant B cells. Initiation of MHC II expression early during bone marrow B-cell development limited the occupancy of cycling compartments by promoting differentiation, thus regulating the numerical output of B cells. MHC II deficiency preserved stem cell characteristics in developing pro-B cells in vivo, and ectopic MHC II expression accelerated hematopoietic stem cell differentiation in vitro. Moreover, MHC II expression restrained growth of murine B-cell leukemia cell lines in vitro and in vivo, independently of CD4+ T-cell surveillance. Our results highlight an important cell-intrinsic contribution of MHC II expression to establishing the differentiated B-cell phenotype.
PMCID:6567521
PMID: 30700420
ISSN: 1528-0020
CID: 4947292

Myosin IIa Promotes Antibody Responses by Regulating B Cell Activation, Acquisition of Antigen, and Proliferation

Hoogeboom, Robbert; Natkanski, Elizabeth M; Nowosad, Carla R; Malinova, Dessislava; Menon, Rajesh P; Casal, Antonio; Tolar, Pavel
B cell responses are regulated by antigen acquisition, processing, and presentation to helper T cells. These functions are thought to depend on contractile activity of non-muscle myosin IIa. Here, we show that B cell-specific deletion of the myosin IIa heavy chain reduced the numbers of bone marrow B cell precursors and splenic marginal zone, peritoneal B1b, and germinal center B cells. In addition, myosin IIa-deficient follicular B cells acquired an activated phenotype and were less efficient in chemokinesis and extraction of membrane-presented antigens. Moreover, myosin IIa was indispensable for cytokinesis. Consequently, mice with myosin IIa-deficient B cells harbored reduced serum immunoglobulin levels and did not mount robust antibody responses when immunized. Altogether, these data indicate that myosin IIa is a negative regulator of B cell activation but a positive regulator of antigen acquisition from antigen-presenting cells and that myosin IIa is essential for B cell development, proliferation, and antibody responses.
PMCID:5986709
PMID: 29791846
ISSN: 2211-1247
CID: 4947282

Plasma Membrane Sheets for Studies of B Cell Antigen Internalization from Immune Synapses

Nowosad, Carla R; Tolar, Pavel
Surrogate planar and membrane systems have been employed to study the architecture of immune synapses; however, they often do not recapitulate trans-synaptic extraction and endocytosis of ligands by the immune cells. Transendocytosis (or trogocytosis) of antigen from immune synapses is particularly critical for antigen processing and presentation by B cells. Here we describe a protocol for preparation of plasma membrane sheets (PMSs), which are flexible and fluid membrane substrates that support robust B cell antigen extraction. We show how to attach B cell antigens to the PMSs and how to investigate antigen extraction and endocytosis by fluorescent microscopy and computational image analysis. These techniques should be broadly applicable to studies of transendocytosis in a variety of cellular systems.
PMID: 28255697
ISSN: 1940-6029
CID: 4947272

WASp-dependent actin cytoskeleton stability at the dendritic cell immunological synapse is required for extensive, functional T cell contacts

Malinova, Dessislava; Fritzsche, Marco; Nowosad, Carla R; Armer, Hannah; Munro, Peter M G; Blundell, Michael P; Charras, Guillaume; Tolar, Pavel; Bouma, Gerben; Thrasher, Adrian J
The immunological synapse is a highly structured and molecularly dynamic interface between communicating immune cells. Although the immunological synapse promotes T cell activation by dendritic cells, the specific organization of the immunological synapse on the dendritic cell side in response to T cell engagement is largely unknown. In this study, confocal and electron microscopy techniques were used to investigate the role of dendritic cell actin regulation in immunological synapse formation, stabilization, and function. In the dendritic cell-restricted absence of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein, an important regulator of the actin cytoskeleton in hematopoietic cells, the immunological synapse contact with T cells occupied a significantly reduced surface area. At a molecular level, the actin network localized to the immunological synapse exhibited reduced stability, in particular, of the actin-related protein-2/3-dependent, short-filament network. This was associated with decreased polarization of dendritic cell-associated ICAM-1 and MHC class II, which was partially dependent on Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein phosphorylation. With the use of supported planar lipid bilayers incorporating anti-ICAM-1 and anti-MHC class II antibodies, the dendritic cell actin cytoskeleton organized into recognizable synaptic structures but interestingly, formed Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein-dependent podosomes within this area. These findings demonstrate that intrinsic dendritic cell cytoskeletal remodeling is a key regulatory component of normal immunological synapse formation, likely through consolidation of adhesive interaction and modulation of immunological synapse stability.
PMCID:5404712
PMID: 26590149
ISSN: 1938-3673
CID: 4947252

The rapid generation of recombinant functional monoclonal antibodies from individual, antigen-specific bone marrow-derived plasma cells isolated using a novel fluorescence-based method

Clargo, Alison M; Hudson, Ashley R; Ndlovu, Welcome; Wootton, Rebecca J; Cremin, Louise A; O'Dowd, Victoria L; Nowosad, Carla R; Starkie, Dale O; Shaw, Sophie P; Compson, Joanne E; White, Dominic P; MacKenzie, Brendon; Snowden, James R; Newnham, Laura E; Wright, Michael; Stephens, Paul E; Griffiths, Meryn R; Lawson, Alastair D G; Lightwood, Daniel J
Single B cell technologies, which avoid traditional hybridoma fusion and combinatorial display, provide a means to interrogate the naturally-selected antibody repertoire of immunized animals. Many methods enable the sampling of memory B cell subsets, but few allow for the direct interrogation of the plasma cell repertoire, i.e., the subset of B cells responsible for producing immunoglobulin in serum. Here, we describe the use of a robust and simple fluorescence-based technique, called the fluorescent foci method, for the identification and isolation of antigen-specific IgG-secreting cells, such as plasma cells, from heterogeneous bone marrow preparations. Following micromanipulation of single cells, cognate pairs of heavy and light chain variable region genes were recovered by reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). During the PCR, variable regions were combined with a promoter fragment and a relevant constant region fragment to produce two separate transcriptionally-active PCR (TAP) fragments that were directly co-transfected into a HEK-293F cell line for recombinant antibody expression. The technique was successfully applied to the generation of a diverse panel of high-affinity, functional recombinant antibodies to human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 2 and TNF derived from the bone marrow of immunized rabbits and rats, respectively. Progression from a bone marrow sample to a panel of functional recombinant antibodies was possible within a 2-week timeframe.
PMCID:3929438
PMID: 24423622
ISSN: 1942-0870
CID: 4947242