Marc J. Shulman

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase turns on somatic hypermutation in hybridomas

The production of high-affinity protective antibodies requires somatic hypermutation (SHM) of the antibody variable (V)-region genes. SHM is characterized by a high frequency of point mutations that occur only during the centroblast stage of B-cell differentiation. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which is expressed specifically in germinal-centre centroblasts, is required for this process, but its exact role is unknown. Here we show that AID is required for SHM in the centroblast-like Ramos cells, and that expression of AID is sufficient to induce SHM in hybridoma cells, which represent a later stage of B-cell differentiation that does not normally undergo SHM. In one hybridoma, mutations were exclusively in G·C base pairs that were mostly within RGYW or WRCY motifs, suggesting that AID has primary responsibility for mutations at these nucleotides. The activation of SHM in hybridomas indicates that AID does not require other centroblast-specific cofactors to induce SHM, suggesting either that it functions alone or that the factors it requires are expressed at other stages of B-cell differentiation.

Homologous recombination in hybridoma cells: dependence on time and fragment length.

Mutant hybridoma-myeloma cell lines that are defective in immunoglobulin production are expected to be useful for defining the molecular requirements of immunoglobulin gene expression. The analysis of such mutants would be greatly facilitated if they could be mapped by marker rescue, i.e., by identifying the segments of wild-type DNA that can restore the normal phenotype by homologous recombination with the mutant chromosomal immunoglobulin gene. To assess the feasibility of this type of mapping, we have measured the efficiency with which fragments of wild-type DNA recombine with a mutant hybridoma immunoglobulin gene and restore normal immunoglobulin production. We found that most if not all recombinants were detectable 2 days after DNA transfer and that the frequency of gene restoration increased with increasing length of the transferred mu gene fragments, between 1.2 and 9.5 kilobases. These results indicate that the available technology should be adequate to map mutations in the mu gene to within approximately 1 kilobase.

IgM - molecular requirements for its assembly and function

The conventional model of IgM structure depicts a unique, array of mu, L and J chains, held together by well-defined disulfide bonds and other interactions. Some, but not all, recent data support this model. Here Ann Davis and Marc Shulman review recent, as well as older, studies of IgM and consider their implications for our understanding of IgM structure and function.

Mutations affecting the structure and function of immunoglobulin M.

Using a hybridoma cell line which secretes hapten-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), we have isolated a variety of mutants which produce abnormal immunoglobulin. Immunoglobulin was tested for the size and composition of the component heavy and light chains and for variable and constant region related functional and serological activities. Some mutants secrete IgM which seems to be defective in hapten binding; others make IgM which appears not to activate complement. Many of the mutants secrete monomeric as opposed to pentameric IgM. In some cases, the defect apparently correlates with structural alterations in the mu heavy chain: partial deletion, polypeptide addition, and abnormal glycosylation have been observed. These mutant cell lines provide a means of identifying the structural basis of IgM function and of studying the biochemistry of IgM synthesis and processing.

Epitope studies indicate that histidyl-tRNA synthetase is a stimulating antigen in idiopathic myositis.

The most frequently found myositis‐specific antibody, the anti‐Jo‐1 antibody (anti‐HRS), binds to histidyl‐tRNA synthetase (HRS). Although this antibody reacts with HRS, it is unclear whether HRS is the stimulating antigen or is merely a protein that cross‐reacts with a yet undefined antigen. Because antibody directed against an unrelated antigen would not be expected to cross‐react with HRS at multiple sites, we mapped the epitopes on HRS to resolve this issue. We found by Western blot analyses that immunoglobulins G (IgG) from 18 of 19 anti‐HRS positive patient sera react with amino acids 2‐44 and 286‐509 of HRS. Patient IgG specific for these two epitopes were found not to inhibit HRS enzyme activity. Instead, the inhibitory property of anti‐HRS was found to be associated with antibodies that do not react to HRS in immunoblots, indicating the presence of other epitopes. In addition, antibodies that react in immunoblots were found to represent only a small fraction of total anti‐HRS antibody. Our finding that patient IgG recognized at least three distinct epitopes on HRS strongly suggests that the immunological response at some point in the disease is directed against HRS and not against a cross‐reactive anti‐gen.—Martin, A., Shulman, M. J., Tsui, F. W. L. Epitope studies indicate that histidyl‐tRNA synthetase is a stimulating antigen in idiopathic myositis. FASEB J. 9, 1226‐1233 (1995)

Expression of the (Recombinant) Endogenous Immunoglobulin Heavy-Chain Locus Requires the Intronic Matrix Attachment Regions

The elements which regulate gene expression have traditionally been identified by their effects on reporter genes which have been transfected into cell lines or animals. It is generally assumed that these elements have a comparable role in expression of the corresponding endogenous locus. Nevertheless, several studies of immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) gene expression have reported that the requirements for expressing IgH-derived transgenes differ from the requirements for expression of the endogenous IgH locus. Thus, although expression of transgenes requires multiple elements from the J(H)-C mu intron--the E mu core enhancer, the matrix attachment regions (MARs) which flank E mu, and several switch-associated elements--B-cell lines in which expression of the endogenous heavy-chain gene is maintained at the normal level in the absence of these intronic elements have occasionally been reported. Gene targeting offers an alternative method for assessing regulatory elements, one in which the role of defined segments of endogenous genes can be evaluated in situ. We have applied this approach to the IgH locus of a hybridoma cell line, generating recombinants which bear predetermined modifications in the functional, endogenous mu heavy-chain gene. Our analysis indicates the following. (i) Ninety-eight percent of the expression of the recombinant endogenous mu gene depends on elements in the MAR-E mu-MAR segment. (ii) Expression of the recombinant mu gene depends strongly on the MARs of the J(H)-C mu intron but not on the adjoining E mu core enhancer and switch regions; because our recombinant cell lines bear only a single copy of the mu gene, our results indicate that mu expression is activated by MAR elements lying within that same mu transcription unit. (iii) The MAR segment includes at least one activating element in addition to those defined previously by the binding of presumptive activating proteins in the nuclear matrix. (iv) Close association of the MARs with the E mu enhancer is not required for MAR-stimulated expression. (v) The other MARs in the IgH locus do not in their normal context provide the requisite MAR function.

Differential activation of human and guinea pig complement by pentameric and hexameric IgM

Human and mouse IgM can be polymerized as a hexamer in addition to a pentamer. Our previous work with mouse IgM measured activation of guinea pig complement by highly enriched preparations of hexamer and pentamer and showed that hexamer is >100‐fold more active than pentamer. In this report pentamer and hexamer were compared for their capacity to activate complement in a homogeneic system, i.e. chimeric mouse V/human Cμ IgM pentamer and hexamer were assayed separately for their capacity to activate human (and guinea pig) complement. In both the homogeneic and the xenogeneic systems hexamer was more active than pentamer, but the magnitude of the difference between hexamer and pentamer depended on the complement source. Whereas chimeric hexamer activated guinea pig complement >100‐fold more efficiently than did chimeric pentamer, this hexamer was only 4–13‐fold more active than pentamer when assayed with human complement. Similarly, mouse hexamer, which was >100‐fold more active than mouse pentamer with guinea pig complement, was only ∼2‐fold more active than mouse pentamer with human complement. Mouse hexameric and pentameric IgM were each ∼20‐fold more active with human complement than were the corresponding chimeric isoforms of IgM.

The concerted action of Msh2 and UNG stimulates somatic hypermutation at A . T base pairs.

ABSTRACT Mismatch repair plays an essential role in reducing the cellular mutation load. Paradoxically, proteins in this pathway produce A·T mutations during the somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes. Although recent evidence implicates the translesional DNA polymerase η in producing these mutations, it is unknown how this or other translesional polymerases are recruited to immunoglobulin genes, since these enzymes are not normally utilized in conventional mismatch repair. In this report, we demonstrate that A·T mutations were closely associated with transversion mutations at a deoxycytidine. Furthermore, deficiency in uracil-N-glycolase (UNG) or mismatch repair reduced this association. These data reveal a previously unknown interaction between the base excision and mismatch repair pathways and indicate that an abasic site generated by UNG within the mismatch repair tract recruits an error-prone polymerase, which then introduces A·T mutations. Our analysis further indicates that repair tracts typically are ∼200 nucleotides long and that polymerase η makes ∼1 error per 300 T nucleotides. The concerted action of Msh2 and UNG in stimulating A·T mutations also may have implications for mutagenesis at sites of spontaneous cytidine deamination.

Variegated expression of the endogenous immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene in the absence of the intronic locus control region.

ABSTRACT The expression of chromosomally integrated transgenes usually varies greatly among independent transfectants. This variability in transgene expression has led to the definition of locus control regions (LCRs) as elements which render expression consistent. Analyses of expression in single cells revealed that the expression of transgenes which lack an LCR is often variegated, i.e., on in some cells and off in others. In many cases, transgenes which show variegated expression were found to have inserted near the centromere. These observations have suggested that the LCR prevents variegation by blocking the inhibitory effect of heterochromatin and other repetitive-DNA-containing structures at the insertion site and have raised the question of whether the LCR plays a similar role in endogenous genes. To address this question, we have examined the effects of deleting the LCR from the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus of a mouse hybridoma cell line in which expression of the immunoglobulin μ heavy-chain gene is normally highly stable. Our analysis of μ expression in single cells shows that deletion of this LCR resulted in variegated expression of the μ gene. That is, in the absence of the LCR, expression of the μ gene in the recombinant locus could be found in either of two epigenetically maintained, metastable states, in which transcription occurred either at the normal rate or not at all. In the absence of the LCR, the on state had a half-life of ∼100 cell divisions, while the half-life of the off state was ∼40,000 cell divisions. For recombinants with an intact LCR, the half-life of the on state exceeded 50,000 cell divisions. Our results thus indicate that the LCR increased the stability of the on state by at least 500-fold.

The IgA/IgM Receptor Expressed on a Murine B Cell Lymphoma Is Poly-Ig Receptor

T560, a mouse B lymphoma that originated in gut-associated lymphoid tissue, expresses receptors that bind dimeric IgA and IgM in a mutually inhibitory manner but have little affinity for monomeric IgA. Evidence presented in this paper indicates that the receptor is poly-Ig receptor (pIgR) known in humans and domestic cattle to bind both IgA and IgM. The evidence includes the demonstration that binding of IgM is J chain dependent, and that pIg-precipitated receptor has an appropriate Mr of 116–120 kDa and can be detected on immunoblots with specific rabbit anti-mouse pIgR. Overlapping RT-PCR performed using template mRNA from T560 cells and oligonucleotide primer pairs designed from the published sequence of mouse liver pIgR indicate that T560 cells express mRNA virtually identical with that of the epithelial cell pIgR throughout its external, transmembrane, and intracytoplasmic coding regions. Studies using mutant IgAs suggest that the Cα2 domain of dimeric IgA is not involved in high-affinity binding to the T560 pIgR. Inasmuch as this mouse B cell pIgR binds IgM better than IgA, it is similar to human pIgR and differs from rat, mouse, and rabbit epithelial cell pIgRs that bind IgA but not IgM. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. All clones of T560 contain some cells that spontaneously secrete both IgG2a and IgA, but all of the IgA recoverable from the medium and from cell lysates is monomeric; it cannot be converted to secretory IgA by T560 cells.