1
Return

Transcriptional programming of early-forming memory B cells arises independently of cognate CD4+ T-cell interactions

delete2026-04-01
delete0
PRE
AI
W
Wiggins, Keenan J.
H
Hicks, Sakeenah L.
P
Padilla-Quirarte, Herbey O.
C
Carly Roman
R
Randall, Troy D.
B
Boss, Jeremy M.
S
Scharer, Christopher D.
DOI:10.1093/jimmun/vkag054delete
deleteOriginal
deleteOriginal request for help
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Memory B cells (MBCs) are an integral part of the humoral immune response with the capacity to both reseed germinal center reactions and rapidly form antibody-secreting plasma cells (ASCs) upon secondary antigen encounter. MBCs arise via both T cell-dependent and -independent routes and while CD4+ T cells are not required for their formation, it is still not clear if or how initial T:B-cell interactions influence the molecular programming and diversity of T cell-independent MBCs. To address this, we characterized MBCs that form in response to influenza infection in major histocompatibility complex class II knockout (MHCII-KO) mice, which lack CD4+ T cells. Consistent with T cell-independent responses, the MBCs that formed in MHCII-KO mice were reduced in number and did not acquire surface expression of CCR6 and class-switched BCR. Transcriptional profiling identified cytokine- and activation-induced genes that were reduced in expression in MHCII-KO MBCs compared to wild type (WT). Adoptive transfer of MHCII-KO B cells into WT hosts, which cannot receive peptide/MHCII-TCR cognate interactions, revealed an ability of MHCII-KO cells to form MBCs and ASCs. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed minimal transcriptional differences between MHCII-KO and WT MBCs, indicating that cognate CD4+ T-cell interactions provide limited early programming instruction to MBCs. MHCII-KO MBCs were able to clonally expand, class-switch, and form the same diverse transcriptional clusters as WT. These data indicate that early differentiating MBCs can seed a diverse pool of MBC populations in response to influenza infection independent of cognate T-cell help.
Keywords:
B-cell memory
differentiation
gene regulation
T-cell independent

Journal

Journal of Immunology cover
Journal of Immunology
IF:
3.4
Papers:
3.7W
Citations:
9.9W

Organization

University of Alabama System cover
University of Alabama System
Scholars:
4.2W
Papers: 3.7W
Citations: 68
E
emory university
Scholars:
3.6K
Papers: 1.4K
Citations: 0
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

Citing Papers

Citing Papers