Aceitón Pablo, Riobó Isidora, Del Valle Batalla Felipe, Diaz-Muñoz Jheimmy, Ulloa Romina, Cabrera Reyes Fernanda, Contreras Teemly, Hernández-Pérez Sara, Mattila Pieta K, Yuseff María Isabel
Laboratory of Immune Cell Biology, Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Institute of Biomedicine, and MediCity Research Laboratories, University of Turku , Turku, Finland.
J Cell Biol. 2025 Aug 4;224(8). doi: 10.1083/jcb.202407181. Epub 2025 Jul 21.
B cells extract immobilized antigens via immune synapse formation, a process influenced by the physical properties of the antigen-presenting surface. However, the mechanisms linking mechanotransduction to antigen extraction and processing remain poorly understood. Here, we show that B cells activated on stiff substrates initiate mechanotransduction responses that drive the translocation of the microtubule acetylase ATAT1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, leading to increased α-tubulin acetylation. This modification releases GEF-H1 at the immune synapse, where it promotes the formation of actin foci essential for antigen extraction. Acetylated microtubules also enable B cells to stabilize and position lysosomes at the synapse center, thereby coupling actin-dependent extraction to antigen processing and presentation. Accordingly, ATAT1-silenced B cells fail to concentrate actin foci and lysosomes at the synaptic interface, resulting in impaired antigen extraction and presentation to T cells. Overall, these findings underscore how BCR-dependent mechanotransduction induces microtubule modifications to orchestrate lysosome positioning and actin remodeling at the immune synapse.