Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 2 is required for efficient generation of B cells bearing antigen-specific immunoglobulin G.
Activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) has been implicated in proliferation as well as differentiation in a wide variety of cell types. Using B-cell-specific gene-targeted mice, we report here that in T-cell-dependent immune responses, ERK2 is required to generate efficient immunoglobulin G (IgG) production. In its absence, the proportion of antigen-specific surface IgG1-bearing cells and the subsequent number of IgG1 antibody-secreting cells were decreased, despite apparently unimpaired class switch recombination. Notably, this defect was countered by overexpression of the antiapoptotic factor Bcl-2. Together, our results suggest that ERK2 plays a key role in efficient generation of antigen-specific IgG-bearing B cells by promoting their survival.
Sanjo
Hideki
H
Laboratory for Lymphocyte Differentiation, RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan.
Hikida
Masaki
M
Aiba
Yuichi
Y
Mori
Yoshiko
Y
Hatano
Naoya
N
Ogata
Masato
M
Kurosaki
Tomohiro
T
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology*; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D018941:Antigens, CD19 / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D002452:Cell Count; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015870:Gene Expression; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching / Q000276:immunology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D000941:Antigens; D018941:Antigens, CD19; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1