The Th2 lymphoproliferation developing in LatY136F mutant mice triggers polyclonal B cell activation and systemic autoimmunity

C Genton, Y Wang, S Izui, B Malissen… - The Journal of …, 2006 - journals.aai.org
C Genton, Y Wang, S Izui, B Malissen, G Delsol, GJ Fournié, M Malissen, H Acha-Orbea
The Journal of Immunology, 2006journals.aai.org
Lat Y136F knock-in mice harbor a point mutation in Tyr 136 of the linker for activation of T
cells and show accumulation of Th2 effector cells and IgG1 and IgE
hypergammaglobulinemia. B cell activation is not a direct effect of the mutation on B cells
since in the absence of T cells, mutant B cells do not show an activated phenotype. After
adoptive transfer of linker for activation of T cell mutant T cells into wild-type, T cell-deficient
recipients, recipient B cells become activated. We show in vivo and in vitro that the Lat …
Abstract
Lat Y136F knock-in mice harbor a point mutation in Tyr 136 of the linker for activation of T cells and show accumulation of Th2 effector cells and IgG1 and IgE hypergammaglobulinemia. B cell activation is not a direct effect of the mutation on B cells since in the absence of T cells, mutant B cells do not show an activated phenotype. After adoptive transfer of linker for activation of T cell mutant T cells into wild-type, T cell-deficient recipients, recipient B cells become activated. We show in vivo and in vitro that the Lat Y136F mutation promotes T cell-dependent B cell activation leading to germinal center, memory, and plasma cell formation even in an MHC class II-independent manner. All the plasma and memory B cell populations found in physiological T cell-dependent B cell responses are found. Characterization of the abundant plasmablasts found in secondary lymphoid organs of Lat Y136F mice revealed the presence of a previously uncharacterized CD93-expressing subpopulation, whose presence was confirmed in wild-type mice after immunization. In Lat Y136F mice, B cell activation was polyclonal and not Ag-driven because the increase in serum IgG1 and IgE concentrations involved Abs and autoantibodies with different specificities equally. Although the noncomplement-fixing IgG1 and IgE are the only isotypes significantly increased in Lat Y136F serum, we observed early-onset systemic autoimmunity with nephritis showing IgE autoantibody deposits and severe proteinuria. These results show that Th2 cells developing in Lat Y136F mice can trigger polyclonal B cell activation and thereby lead to systemic autoimmune disease.
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