De Silva Nilushi S, Silva Kathryn, Anderson Michael M, Bhagat Govind, Klein Ulf
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032; and.
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032;
J Immunol. 2016 Mar 15;196(6):2591-601. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1501120. Epub 2016 Feb 5.
BAFF is critical for the survival and maturation of mature B cells. BAFF, via BAFFR, activates multiple signaling pathways in B cells, including the alternative NF-κB pathway. The transcription factors RELB and NF-κB2 (p100/p52) are the downstream mediators of the alternative pathway; however, the B cell-intrinsic functions of these NF-κB subunits have not been studied in vivo using conditional alleles, either individually or in combination. We in this study report that B cell-specific deletion of relb led to only a slight decrease in the fraction of mature splenic B cells, whereas deletion of nfkb2 caused a marked reduction. This phenotype was further exacerbated upon combined deletion of relb and nfkb2 and most dramatically affected the maintenance of marginal zone B cells. BAFF stimulation, in contrast to CD40 activation, was unable to rescue relb/nfkb2-deleted B cells in vitro. RNA-sequencing analysis of BAFF-stimulated nfkb2-deleted versus normal B cells suggests that the alternative NF-κB pathway, in addition to its critical role in BAFF-mediated cell survival, may control the expression of genes involved in the positioning of B cells within the lymphoid microenvironment and in the establishment of T cell-B cell interactions. Thus, by ablating the downstream transcription factors of the alternative NF-κB pathway specifically in B cells, we identify in this study a critical role for the combined activity of the RELB and NF-κB2 subunits in B cell homeostasis that cannot be compensated for by the canonical NF-κB pathway under physiological conditions.
BAFF对成熟B细胞的存活和成熟至关重要。BAFF通过BAFFR激活B细胞中的多种信号通路,包括替代NF-κB通路。转录因子RELB和NF-κB2(p100/p52)是替代通路的下游介质;然而,这些NF-κB亚基在B细胞内的功能尚未在体内使用条件性等位基因单独或联合进行研究。我们在本研究中报告,B细胞特异性缺失relb仅导致成熟脾B细胞比例略有下降,而缺失nfkb2则导致显著降低。relb和nfkb2联合缺失时,这种表型进一步加剧,对边缘区B细胞的维持影响最为显著。与CD40激活相反,BAFF刺激在体外无法挽救缺失relb/nfkb2的B细胞。对BAFF刺激的缺失nfkb2的B细胞与正常B细胞进行RNA测序分析表明,替代NF-κB通路除了在BAFF介导的细胞存活中起关键作用外,还可能控制参与B细胞在淋巴微环境中的定位以及T细胞与B细胞相互作用建立的基因的表达。因此,通过在B细胞中特异性敲除替代NF-κB通路的下游转录因子,我们在本研究中确定了RELB和NF-κB2亚基的联合活性在B细胞稳态中的关键作用,在生理条件下,经典NF-κB通路无法补偿这一作用。