PLoS ONE (Jan 2017)

Multiple tolerance defects contribute to the breach of B cell tolerance in New Zealand Black chromosome 1 congenic mice.

  • Nan-Hua Chang,
  • Kieran P Manion,
  • Christina Loh,
  • Evelyn Pau,
  • Yuriy Baglaenko,
  • Joan E Wither

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179506
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 6
p. e0179506

Abstract

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Lupus is characterized by a loss of B cell tolerance leading to autoantibody production. In this study, we explored the mechanisms underlying this loss of tolerance using B6 congenic mice with an interval from New Zealand Black chromosome 1 (denoted c1(96-100)) sufficient for anti-nuclear antibody production. Transgenes for soluble hen egg white lysozyme (sHEL) and anti-HEL immunoglobulin were crossed onto this background and various tolerance mechanisms examined. We found that c1(96-100) mice produced increased levels of IgM and IgG anti-HEL antibodies compared to B6 mice and had higher proportions of germinal center B cells and long-lived plasma cells, suggesting a germinal center-dependent breach of B cell anergy. Consistent with impaired anergy induction, c1(96-100) double transgenic B cells showed enhanced survival and CD86 upregulation. Hematopoietic chimeric sHEL mice with a mixture of B6 and c1(96-100) HEL transgenic B cells recapitulated these results, suggesting the presence of a B cell autonomous defect. Surprisingly, however, there was equivalent recruitment of B6 and c1(96-100) B cells into germinal centers and differentiation to splenic plasmablasts in these mice. In contrast, there were increased proportions of c1(96-100) T follicular helper cells and long-lived plasma cells as compared to their B6 counterparts, suggesting that both B and T cell defects are required to breach germinal center tolerance in this model. This possibility was further supported by experiments showing an enhanced breach of anergy in double transgenic mice with a longer chromosome 1 interval with additional T cell defects.