title: B cell response is required for granuloma formation in the early infection of Schistosoma japonicum.
abstract: Schistosoma egg-induced liver granuloma is a dynamic inflammatory reaction that results from complex immune responses to the infection. However, the role of B cells in inflammatory granuloma development is not yet fully understood. We report here that B cell function is required for S. japonicum egg-induced granuloma pathology in early infection. Both OBF-1 knockout mice and microMT mice develop severely reduced hepatic granulomas at five weeks post-infection compared to their wild-type counterparts. In contrast, they display no significant difference in granuloma pathology at eight weeks post-infection. Moreover, we find that B cells and antibodies accumulate in the granulomas of wild-type mice early in the infection, indicating a contribution of the B cell response to the granulomatous inflammation. Furthermore, defects in B cell function markedly reduce liver egg burden. These results suggest an important role for B cells in early granuloma pathology. Surprisingly, we found that the S. japonicum infection destroys the structure of the lymphoid follicles. This disruptive effect is correlated with a severely impaired T cell-dependent antibody response upon challenge with ovalbumin. Thus, these findings reveal a novel aspect of the interaction between Schistosoma and the host immune system.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Institutes of Medical Sciences, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Zhanjie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jinxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xinzhi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006099:Granuloma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008109:Liver Diseases, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C490424:Pou2af1 protein, mouse; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015534:Trans-Activators