title: YY1 Regulates the Germinal Center Reaction by Inhibiting Apoptosis.
abstract: The germinal center (GC) reaction produces high-affinity Abs for a robust adaptive immune response. When dysregulated, the same processes cause GC B cells to become susceptible to lymphomagenesis. It is important to understand how the GC reaction is regulated. In this study, we show that transcription factor YY1 is required to maintain a robust GC reaction in mice. Selective ablation of YY1 significantly decreased in the frequency and number of GC B cells during the GC reaction. This decrease of GC B cells was accompanied by increased apoptosis in these cells. Furthermore, we found that loss of YY1 disrupted the balance between dark zones and light zones, leading to a preferential decrease in dark zone cells. Collectively, these results indicate that YY1 plays an important role in regulating the balance between dark zone and light zone cells in GCs and between survival and death of GC B cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655; and.
authors.forename: Sally E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Trabucco
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655.
authors.forename: Rachel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gerstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655; and hong.zhang@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D050986:YY1 Transcription Factor / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D050986:YY1 Transcription Factor; C494699:Yy1 protein, mouse