| First Author | Huang H | Year | 2006 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 3734-9 |
| PubMed ID | 16505356 | Mgi Jnum | J:107241 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3620447 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.0600214103 |
| Citation | Huang H, et al. (2006) Induction of tolerance in arthritogenic B cells with receptors of differing affinity for self-antigen. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103(10):3734-9 |
| abstractText | Multiple mechanisms of tolerance induction limit autoimmunity, but their relative contribution for lymphocytes recognizing self-antigens of differing availability is incompletely understood. The mechanisms applied to arthritogenic B cells expressing antigen-specific B cell receptors (BCRs) with different affinities for glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI) were examined in the corresponding Ig gene knock-in mice. This ubiquitously expressed and blood-borne enzyme is the target autoantigen in the K/BxN model of inflammatory arthritis and perhaps in some humans with arthritis. Negative selection of B cells expressing high-affinity anti-GPI specificities, whose surface receptors were occupied by GPI, operated mainly at the transitional B cell stages in the spleen, preventing their final differentiation and entry into follicular areas. Receptor editing contributed to the purging of cells displaying anti-GPI BCRs, and significant numbers of autoreactive cells escaped through expression of an additional Ig light (L) chain, accumulating gradually in lymphoid organs. In contrast, low-affinity anti-GPI B cells, whose surface receptors did not carry GPI, matured normally. The 'escaped' dual-L-chain cells and the 'ignored' low-affinity cells are the likely precursors of cells that produce pathogenic autoantibodies once T cell help is provided. These studies portray, in a single system, the range of tolerance mechanisms applied to potentially pathogenic B cells, and serve as a base for dissecting where T cell help intervenes and where therapeutic agents impinge. |
