title: Stat1-dependent synergistic activation of T-bet for IgG2a production during early stage of B cell activation.
abstract: During the adaptive phase of an immune response, naive B cells receive multiple signals to become activated. Among them are the engagement of the B cell Ag receptor and stimulation by cytokines. Specifically for an anti-microbial response, the recognition of viral or bacterial Ags by the BCR and the stimulation of IFN-gamma result in the predominant production of IgG2a. The T-bet protein has been shown to be required for class switching to IgG2a. In this report we further investigated the regulation of T-bet gene expression during the early stage of B cell activation. We show that there is a striking synergistic activation of T-bet in primary B cells when both the BCR and IFN-gamma signaling pathways are activated. The synergistic activation of T-bet correlates with a 100% increase in the number of B cells that produce IgG2a. This transcription synergy on T-bet is transient in the first 24 h of B cell activation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the synergistic activation of T-bet is dependent on Stat1 and that Stat1 is required for the IgG2a germline transcription and the production of IgG2a in response to the simultaneous signaling of BCR and IFN-gamma. Finally, we show that Stat1 directly regulates the expression of T-bet by binding to the T-bet promoter. These results reveal the mechanism of regulation of T-bet expression and uncover a novel physiological function of Stat1 for B cell activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA.
authors.forename: Weifeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: J Jillian
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000276:immunology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D000098815:T-bet Transcription Factor
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D050794:STAT1 Transcription Factor; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; D000098815:T-bet Transcription Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors; D007371:Interferon-gamma