title: BAFF suppresses IL-15 expression in B cells.
abstract: Clinical trials have shown that BAFF inhibitors do not reduce memory B cell levels but can reduce the number of mature B cells. It remains uncertain whether BAFF affects memory-maintaining cytokines such as IL-15. We found that BAFF suppressed IL-15 expression in B cells from lupus-like or experimental allergic encephalomyelitis mice. When BAFF was blocked with atacicept-IgG, IL-15 expression was upregulated in lupus-like or experimental allergic encephalomyelitis mice. Finally, we showed that BAFF suppressed IL-15 expression in transitional 2 B cells by reducing Foxo1 expression and inducing Foxo1 phosphorylation. This study suggests that BAFF suppresses IL-15 expression in autoimmune diseases, and this opens up the possible opportunity for the clinical application of BAFF- and IL-15-specific therapeutic agents.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immunology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China;
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Youdi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Gencheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Guojiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marrero
authors.forename: Yujuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shengquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Beifen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Renxi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor; D019409:Interleukin-15