title: Dendritic cell-independent B cell activation during acute virus infection: a role for early CCR7-driven B-T helper cell collaboration.
abstract: This study provides a detailed spatiotemporal interaction analysis between B cells, Th cells, and dendritic cells (DC) during the generation of protective antiviral B cell immunity. Following vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection, conditional ablation of CD11c-positive DC at the time-point of infection did not impair extrafollicular plasma cell generation and Ig class switching. In contrast, the generation of Th and B cell responses following immunization with recombinant VSV-glycoprotein was DC-dependent. Furthermore, we show that the CCR7-dependent interplay of the three cell-types is crucial for virus-neutralizing B cell responses in the presence of limiting amounts of Ag. An immediate event following VSV infection was the CCR7-mediated interaction of VSV-specific B and Th cells at the T cell-B cell zone border that facilitated plasma cell differentiation and Th cell activation. Taken together, these experiments provide evidence for a direct, CCR7-orchestrated and largely DC-independent mutual activation of Th cells and Ag-specific B cells that is most likely a critical step during early immune responses against cytopathic viruses.
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Kantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland. elke.scandella@kssg.ch
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scandella
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Junt
authors.forename: Beatrice M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Senn
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lattmann
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hengartner
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ludewig
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000276:immunology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D054400:Receptors, CCR7; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000502:physiology*; D018353:Rhabdoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000276:immunology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation; D014721:Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus / Q000276:immunology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; C515371:Ccr7 protein, mouse; D054400:Receptors, CCR7; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine