Analysis of antigen receptor signaling in B cells from mice with a retrovirus-induced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

MAIDS is a retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency syndrome in mice that has similarities to human AIDS. Because the functional defects in B cells from retroviral immunodeficiency syndromes have not been characterized in detail, we examined early and late parameters of B cell responses to IgM cross-linking in B cells from MAIDS and normal mice. Splenic B cells from mice with MAIDS have defective in vitro proliferative responses to LPS and anti-IgM-mediated stimuli, as well as to PMA plus calcium ionophore, indicating a generalized defect in proliferative response potential independent of specific receptor-mediated signaling. When early signaling parameters were analyzed in response to IgM cross-linking, it was found that calcium flux in B cells from MAIDS mice was significantly reduced; this reduction was not accounted for by quantitative differences in cell-surface IgM expression and therefore indicates a defect in early signal transduction through the IgM receptor. The tyrosine phosphorylation response to IgM cross-linking was also markedly deficient; tyrosine phosphorylation of Ig-alpha, Ig-beta, and an undefined protein of 80 kDa was detected in MAIDS B cells after anti-IgM stimulation, at levels substantially less than those observed in normal B cells. Multiple other tyrosine phosphorylation events observed in normal B cells, including phosphorylation of GTPase-activating protein, P13-kinase, and syk kinase, were not detected in MAIDS B cells in response to IgM cross-linking. The defect in tyrosine phosphorylation seemed to correlate with reduced surface IgM levels on a subpopulation of MAIDS B cells. B cells from mice expressing the MAIDS retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency thus reflect defects in early signaling through the Ag-specific IgM receptor as well as a generalized defect in proliferative responsiveness.