Department of Transfusion, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China; Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
Huilan Liu
Department of Transfusion, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China; Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China; Corresponding author
Li Zhou
Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China
Dongyao Wang
Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China
Shushu Wang
Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China
Qian Liu
Organ Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230036, China
Yun Wu
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China
Meijuan Tu
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China
Zimin Sun
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China
Xiaohu Zheng
Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
Binqing Fu
Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
Baolong Wang
Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China; Corresponding author
Haiming Wei
Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Department of Geriatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection remains one of the most frequent and life-threatening infectious complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Herein, we comprehensively compared the immune cells of patients with uncontrolled and controlled CMV infection post-allo-HSCT and found that B-cells were extraordinarily insufficient because of impaired B-cells reconstitution in the uncontrolled infection group. Furthermore, in the controlled infection group, reconstructed B-cells showed signatures of mature B-cells, high expression of CXCR4 and IFITM1, and enrichment of CMV-associated B-cell receptors, which were lacking in the uncontrolled infection group. Consistently, sera from the uncontrolled infection group failed to inhibit CMV infection via neutralizing virus in vitro because of its lower content of anti-CMV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) than the controlled infection group. Overall, these results highlighted the contribution of B cells and anti-CMV-specific neutralizing IgGs to the restraint of CMV infection post-allo-HSCT, suggesting their potential as a supplementary treatment to improve outcomes.
