title: Divergent members of a single autoreactive B cell clone retain specificity for apoptotic blebs.
abstract: Specificity for double-stranded DNA can arise due to somatic mutations within one of the branches of an autoreactive B cell clone. However, it is not known whether a different autospecificity predates anti-dsDNA and whether separate offshoots of an expanding B cell clone retain or evolve alternative specificities. We compared 3H9, an anti-dsDNA IgG, to 4H8 and 1A11, antibodies produced by hybridomas representing an alternative branch of the 3H9 B cell clone. All three IgG bound chromatin in ELISA and apoptotic cells in confocal microscopy, yet only 3H9 bound dsDNA, as measured by plasmon resonance. Moreover, we demonstrate that despite the unique specificity of 3H9 for dsDNA, all three clone members exhibited indistinguishable binding to chromatin. The binding to chromatin and apoptotic cells was unaffected by N-linked glycosylation in L chain CDR1, a modification that results from a replacement of serine 26 with asparagine in 4H8 and 1A11. These data provide the first evidence that specificity for nucleosome epitopes on apoptotic cells provides the initial positive stimulus for somatic variants that comprise a B cell clone, including those that subsequently acquire specificity for dsDNA. Conversely, selection of autoreactive B cells for binding to apoptotic cells leads to clonal expansion, antibody diversification, and the development of linked sets of anti-nuclear autoantibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 858 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Indira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Neeli
authors.forename: Mekel M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Salar N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nicolo
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monestier
authors.forename: Marko Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Radic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D001666:Binding Sites, Antibody / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D019463:Mice, Inbred MRL lpr
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal