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1 Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University, T-3219 MCN, 1161 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN, 37232, 2 Biology, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, PO Box 9000, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, 3 Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Vanderbilt University, MCN T3219, 1161 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN, 37232
Abstract
B cells that recognize small self proteins are presumed to escape tolerance and reside in a non-tolerant state of "clonal ignorance". In contrast to this assumption, B cells that harbor anti-insulin Ig transgenes (125Tg) are not clonally ignorant; rather they are maintained in a novel anergic state. Anti-insulin B cells do not proliferate to BCR cross-linking and show impaired Ca2+ and NFAT responses, but unlike the anti-HEL/HEL model, they are not developmentally arrested and show intact tyrosine phosphorylation. To understand the genesis of this novel form of anergy, IL-7 was used to generate naïve anti-insulin B cells from bone marrow cultures. Naïve anti-insulin B cells mobilize Ca2+ upon acute antigen exposure. However, continuous antigen exposure decreased surface IgM expression and lead to impaired Ca2+ mobilization following BCR-dependent and BCR-independent stimuli. These data show that anti-insulin B cells are not clonally ignorant; rather, continuous BCR signals initiate tolerance early in development and maintain anergy in the mature repertoire. This highlights the therapeutic potential of targeting developing B cells in the bone marrow for functional silencing.
Support provided by 5T32 HL069765, 5T32 GM08554, AI051448, and JDRF.
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