title: Regulatory B cells promote graft-versus-host disease prevention and maintain graft-versus-leukemia activity following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: Regulatory B cells (Bregs) are involved in the pathogenesis of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). However, whether Bregs can alleviate acute GVHD without compromising graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the role of Bregs in acute GVHD and GVL activity in both a mouse model and a clinical cohort study. In the acute GVHD mouse model, co-transplantation of Bregs prevents onset through inhibiting Th1 and Th17 differentiation and expanding regulatory T cells. In the GVL mouse model, Bregs contributed to the suppression of acute GVHD but had no adverse effect on GVL activity. In the clinical cohort study, a higher dose of Bregs in allografts was associated with a lower cumulative incidence of acute GVHD but not with increased risk of relapse. Our data demonstrate that Bregs can prevent acute GVHD and maintain GVL effects and suggest that Bregs have potential as a novel strategy for acute GVHD alleviation.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology, Xicheng District, Beijing, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology, Xicheng District, Beijing, China; Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Gan-Lin
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Yu
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Su
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lan-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Xue-Zhong
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kai-Yan
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology , Xicheng District, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Peking University People's Hospital & Peking University Institute of Hematology, Xicheng District, Beijing, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China; Collabrative Innovation Center of Hematology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: Allogeneic stem cell transplantation; Th cells; graft-versus-host disease; graft-versus-leukemia effects; regulatory B cells