| First Author | Blossom S | Year | 1999 |
| Journal | Clin Exp Immunol | Volume | 118 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 147-53 |
| PubMed ID | 10540172 | Mgi Jnum | J:57932 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1346217 | Doi | 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1999.01032.x |
| Citation | Blossom S, et al. (1999) Antibody production in autoimmune BXSB mice. I. CD40L-expressing B cells need fewer signals for polyclonal antibody synthesis. Clin Exp Immunol 118(1):147-53 |
| abstractText | Male, but not female, BXSB mice develop severe lupus associated with multiple immune system defects. It was recently shown that one immunological abnormality found in male BXSB mice encompasses B cell expression of CD40 ligand (CD40L) by an expanded population of large B cells. The present study was undertaken to determine how the CD40L-expressing large B cells in male BXSB mice compared with size-matched B cells from female mice in terms of their ability to secrete antibody. It was shown that the large B cells from female mice, similar to the small B cells from either male or female mice, required CD40 signalling, immunoglobulin cross-linking and cytokines for optimal antibody synthesis. In contrast, large B cells from male BXSB mice produced high levels of antibody when stimulated with only two of the three signals, and made significantly more total IgM and IgG, and anti-ssDNA antibody than size-matched B cells from female mice when stimulated with IL-4/IL-5 alone, IL-4/IL-5 plus low levels of anti-IgD-dextran, or IL-4/IL-5 plus anti-CD40 MoAb. The ability of the large B cells from male mice to produce antibody under suboptimal stimulatory conditions correlated with their expression of CD40L, and was inhibited by CD40-immunoglobulin. Taken together, these findings suggested that large CD40L-expressing B cells from male BXSB mice may be able to bypass a need for CD40 signalling from T cells, thus contributing to autoimmune disease by promoting antibody production in the absence of cognate T cell help. |
