title: Mature B cells preferentially lose tolerance in the chronic graft-versus-host disease model of systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: Chronic graft-vs-host (cGVH) disease is a well-characterized systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) model. Induction of cGVH in anti-DNA H chain knockin (3H9KI) transgenic mice results in specific activation of anti-dsDNA B cells. In this study, we show that B cells from 3H9KI mice were activated by cGVH even when adoptively transferred into irradiated JHT-/- recipients that lack endogenous B cells. This process of activation was reflected by high autoantibody titers and changes in phenotypic markers. We have used this system to characterize the particular B cell subsets that were responsible for secreting autoantibodies during cGVH response. We isolated splenic B cell subsets based on their expression of specific cell surface markers and used them in our adoptive transfer studies. We found that mature B cells were the most vulnerable to the allostimulus and were the major source of autoantibodies compared with immature B cells. The greater susceptibility of mature B cells to become activated and thereby lose tolerance was unanticipated and has implications for maintenance of peripheral tolerance and for the development of autoimmunity. Furthermore, of the mature B cells, marginal zone B cells were particularly responsible for mounting the initial response to the cGVH stimulus. This observation underscores the critical role of marginal zone B cells in activation and production of autoantibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Arpita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.forename: Philip L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Eisenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000637:transplantation; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000235:genetics; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology