Inability to produce IL-6 is a functional feature of human germinal center B lymphocytes.

In response to Ag encounter, B lymphocytes undergo a complex maturation process yielding phenotypically distinct subpopulations that are located in highly organized compartments of secondary lymphoid organs. This study describes the patterns of cytokine secretion of naive, memory, and germinal center (GC) human tonsillar B lymphocytes, activated either through CD40 or B cell receptor or with Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I particles. The three B cell subpopulations produced comparable levels of IL-10 and TNF-alpha, regardless of the stimulation pathway. Interestingly, activated GC B lymphocytes fail to express IL-6, as determined both at mRNA and at protein levels, whereas both naive and memory B cells can be induced to secrete IL-6. Likewise, naive B lymphocytes undergoing dual ligation of CD40 and B cell receptor fail to express IL-6, since they acquire a GC-like phenotype. IL-6 receptors are up-regulated on both ex vivo-purified GC B lymphocytes and in vitro generated GC-like B cells, following CD40 activation. Consistent with this, addition of exogenous IL-6 sustains growth of CD40-stimulated GC B lymphocytes. Taken together, these results demonstrate that loss of IL-6 secretion is a functional characteristic of human GC B lymphocytes. The swap from an autocrine to a paracrine IL-6 response may permit a better control of B cell growth and differentiation during the germinal center reaction.