Martina P. Bach

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is driven by antigen-independent cell-autonomous signalling

B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) expression is an important feature of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), one of the most prevalent B-cell neoplasias in Western countries. The presence of stereotyped and quasi-identical BCRs in different CLL patients suggests that recognition of specific antigens might drive CLL pathogenesis. Here we show that, in contrast to other B-cell neoplasias, CLL-derived BCRs induce antigen-independent cell-autonomous signalling, which is dependent on the heavy-chain complementarity-determining region (HCDR3) and an internal epitope of the BCR. Indeed, transferring the HCDR3 of a CLL-derived BCR provides autonomous signalling capacity to a non-autonomously active BCR, whereas mutations in the internal epitope abolish this capacity. Because BCR expression was required for the binding of secreted CLL-derived BCRs to target cells, and mutations in the internal epitope reduced this binding, our results indicate a new model for CLL pathogenesis, with cell-autonomous antigen-independent signalling as a crucial pathogenic mechanism.

N-linked glycosylation selectively regulates autonomous precursor BCR function

Developing B cells express distinct classes of B cell antigen receptors (BCRs) that differ in their heavy chain (HC). Although only μHC is expressed in early stages, δHC-containing BCRs dominate on the surface of mature B cells. The reason for the tightly regulated expression of these receptors is poorly understood. Here we show that μHC was specifically required for precursor BCR (pre-BCR) function and that δHC was unable to form a functional pre-BCR. A conserved asparagine (N)-linked glycosylation site at position 46 (N46) in the first conserved domain of μHC was absolutely required for pre-BCR function, and swapping that domain with δHC resulted in a functional δHC-containing pre-BCR. When tested in the context of the BCR, μHC with a mutant N46 showed normal function, which indicated that N46-glycosylation is specifically required for pre-BCR function. Our results suggest an unexpected mode of pre-BCR function, in which binding of the surrogate light chain to N46 mediates autonomous crosslinking and, concomitantly, receptor formation.

Responsiveness of B cells is regulated by the hinge region of IgD

Mature B cells express immunoglobulin M (IgM)- and IgD-isotype B cell antigen receptors, but the importance of IgD for B cell function has been unclear. By using a cellular in vitro system and corresponding mouse models, we found that antigens with low valence activated IgM receptors but failed to trigger IgD signaling, whereas polyvalent antigens activated both receptor types. Investigations of the molecular mechanism showed that deletion of the IgD-specific hinge region rendered IgD responsive to monovalent antigen, whereas transferring the hinge to IgM resulted in responsiveness only to polyvalent antigen. Our data suggest that the increased IgD/IgM ratio on conventional B-2 cells is important for preferential immune responses to antigens in immune complexes, and that the increased IgM expression on B-1 cells is essential for B-1 cell homeostasis and function.

Efficient generation of B lymphocytes by recognition of self‐antigens

Antibody diversity is generated by a random gene recombination process with the inherent risk of the production of autoreactive specificities. The current view suggests that B cells expressing such specificities are negatively selected at an early developmental stage. Using the knock‐in model system of the 3‐83 autoreactive B‐cell antigen receptor (BCR) in combination with precursor‐BCR (pre‐BCR) deficiency, we show here that the 3‐83 BCR mediates efficient generation of B cells in the presence, but not the absence, of a strongly recognized auto‐antigen. Experiments with mixed bone marrow chimeras showed that combining the 3‐83 BCR with the corresponding auto‐antigen resulted in efficient reconstitution of B‐cell development in immune‐deficient mice. These results suggest that B cells are positively selected by recognition of self‐antigens during developmental stages that precede receptor editing. Moreover, the data indicate that the pre‐BCR functions as a specialized autoreactive BCR to initiate positive selection at a stage where the cells express immunoglobulin heavy but not light chains.

Antibody repertoire diversification through VH gene replacement in mice cloned from an IgA plasma cell

Significance Antibodies produced by B cells provide a protective barrier to our organism against the penetration and dissemination of microorganisms. Each antibody recognizes a specific antigen through variable (V) region domains of pairs of immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy (H) and light (L) chains. In mammals, VDJ recombination generates a highly diversified preimmune pool of VH and VL domains. Acquisition of a functional VH rearrangement is thought to prevent further VDJ recombination at the IgH locus. Instead, mice cloned from a terminally differentiated B cell unravel the ability of VDJ recombination to revise a functionally rearranged VH gene through VH replacement. We show that up to 20% of the antibody V gene repertoire of mature B-lymphocytes can be generated through VH replacement. In mammals, VDJ recombination is responsible for the establishment of a highly diversified preimmune antibody repertoire. Acquisition of a functional Ig heavy (H) chain variable (V) gene rearrangement is thought to prevent further recombination at the IgH locus. Here, we describe VHQ52NT; Vκgr32NT Ig monoclonal mice reprogrammed from the nucleus of an intestinal IgA+ plasma cell. In VHQ52NT mice, IgA replaced IgM to drive early B-cell development and peripheral B-cell maturation. In VHQ52NT animals, over 20% of mature B cells disrupted the single productive, nonautoimmune IgH rearrangement through VH replacement and exchanged it with a highly diversified pool of IgH specificities. VH replacement occurred in early pro-B cells, was independent of pre–B-cell receptor signaling, and involved predominantly one adjacent VH germ-line gene. VH replacement was also identified in 5% of peripheral B cells of mice inheriting a different productive VH rearrangement expressed in the form of an IgM H chain. In summary, editing of a productive IgH rearrangement through VH replacement can account for up to 20% of the IgH repertoire expressed by mature B cells.

Premature Terminal Differentiation Protects from Deregulated Lymphocyte Activation by ITK-Syk

The development of hematopoietic neoplasms is often associated with mutations, altered gene expression or chromosomal translocations. Recently, the t(5, 9)(q33;q22) translocation was found in a subset of peripheral T cell lymphomas and was shown to result in an IL-2–inducible kinase–spleen tyrosine kinase (ITK-Syk) fusion transcript. In this study, we show that T cell–specific expression of the ITK-Syk oncogene in mice leads to an early onset and aggressive polyclonal T cell lymphoproliferation with concomitant B cell expansion and systemic inflammation by 7–9 wk of age. Because this phenotype is strikingly different from previous work showing that ITK-Syk expression causes clonal T cell lymphoma by 20–27 wk of age, we investigated the underlying molecular mechanism in more detail. We show that the reason for the severe phenotype is the lack of B-lymphocyte–induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1) induction by low ITK-Syk expression. In contrast, high ITK-Syk oncogene expression induces terminal T cell differentiation in the thymus by activating Blimp-1, thereby leading to elimination of oncogene-expressing cells early in development. Our data suggest that terminal differentiation is an important mechanism to prevent oncogene-expressing cells from malignant transformation, as high ITK-Syk oncogene activity induces cell elimination. Accordingly, for transformation, a specific amount of oncogene is required, or alternatively, the induction of terminal differentiation is defective.

Highly Restricted Usage of Ig H Chain VH14 Family Gene Segments in Slp65-Deficient Pre-B Cell Leukemia in Mice

Mice deficient for the adapter protein Slp65 (also known as Blnk), a key component in precursor-BCR (pre-BCR) signaling, spontaneously develop pre-B cell leukemia. In these leukemias, proliferation is thought to be driven by constitutive Jak3/Stat5 signaling, mostly due to autocrine production of IL-7, together with high surface expression of the pre-BCR. In this study, we investigated whether particular IgH specificities would predispose Slp65-deficient pre-B cells to malignant transformation. Whereas VH-D-JH junctions were diverse, we found highly restricted Ig VH gene usage: 55 out of 60 (∼92%) leukemias used a VH14/SM7-family gene, mainly VH14-1 and VH14-2. When combined with surrogate or conventional L chains, these VH14 IgH chains did not provide increased proliferative signals or exhibit enhanced poly- or autoreactivity. We therefore conclude that pre-BCR specificity per se did not contribute to oncogenic transformation. Remarkably, in a high proportion of Slp65-deficient leukemias, the nonexpressed IgH allele also harbored a VH14-family rearrangement (10 out of 50) or was in the germline configuration (10 out of 50). VH14-1 and VH14-2 gene regions differed from their neighboring VH genes in that they showed active H3K4me3 histone modification marks and germline transcription at the pro-B cell stage in Rag1-deficient mice. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that in Slp65-deficient mice, malignant transformation is largely limited to particular pre-B cells that originate from pro-B cells that had restricted IgH VH region accessibility at the time of VH-to D-JH recombination.