Chromosomal translocations involving the immunoglobulin switch region are a hallmark feature of B-cell malignancies. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism by which primary B cells ...acquire or guard against these lesions. Here we find that translocations between c-myc and the IgH locus (Igh) are induced in primary B cells within hours of expression of the catalytically active form of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), an enzyme that deaminates cytosine to produce uracil in DNA. Translocation also requires uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG), which removes uracil from DNA to create abasic sites that are then processed to double-strand breaks. The pathway that mediates aberrant joining of c-myc and Igh differs from intrachromosomal repair during immunoglobulin class switch recombination in that it does not require histone H2AX, p53 binding protein 1 (53BP1) or the non-homologous end-joining protein Ku80. In addition, translocations are inhibited by the tumour suppressors ATM, Nbs1, p19 (Arf) and p53, which is consistent with activation of DNA damage- and oncogenic stress-induced checkpoints during physiological class switching. Finally, we demonstrate that accumulation of AID-dependent, IgH-associated chromosomal lesions is not sufficient to enhance c-myc–Igh translocations. Our findings reveal a pathway for surveillance and protection against AID-dependent DNA damage, leading to chromosomal translocations.
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induce a signal transmitted by the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase, which suppresses illegitimate joining of DSBs and activates cell-cycle checkpoints. Here ...we show that a significant fraction of mature ATM-deficient lymphocytes contain telomere-deleted ends produced by failed end joining during V(D)J recombination. These RAG-1/2 endonuclease-dependent, terminally deleted chromosomes persist in peripheral lymphocytes for at least 2 weeks in vivo and are stable over several generations in vitro. Restoration of ATM kinase activity in mature lymphocytes that have transiently lost ATM function leads to loss of cells with terminally deleted chromosomes. Thus, maintenance of genomic stability in lymphocytes requires faithful end joining as well a checkpoint that prevents the long-term persistence and transmission of DSBs. Silencing this checkpoint permits DNA ends produced by V(D)J recombination in a lymphoid precursor to serve as substrates for translocations with chromosomes subsequently damaged by other means in mature cells.
53BP1 is a well-known mediator of the cellular response to DNA damage. Two alternative mechanisms have been proposed to explain 53BP1's interaction with DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), one by ...binding to methylated histones and the other via an RNF8 E3 ligase-dependent ubiquitylation pathway. The formation of RNF8 and 53BP1 irradiation-induced foci are both dependent on histone H2AX. To evaluate the contribution of the RNF8-dependent pathway to 53BP1 function, we generated RNF8 knockout mice. We report that RNF8 deficiency results in defective class switch recombination (CSR) and accumulation of unresolved immunoglobulin heavy chain-associated DSBs. The CSR DSB repair defect is milder than that observed in the absence of 53BP1 but similar to that found in H2AX(-/-) mice. Moreover, similar to H2AX but different from 53BP1 deficiency, RNF8(-/-) males are sterile, and this is associated with defective ubiquitylation of the XY chromatin. Combined loss of H2AX and RNF8 does not cause further impairment in CSR, demonstrating that the two genes function epistatically. Importantly, although 53BP1 foci formation is RNF8 dependent, its binding to chromatin is preserved in the absence of RNF8. This suggests a two-step mechanism for 53BP1 association with chromatin in which constitutive loading is dependent on interactions with methylated histones, whereas DNA damage-inducible RNF8-dependent ubiquitylation allows its accumulation at damaged chromatin.
Deficiencies in factors that regulate the DNA damage response enhance the incidence of malignancy by destabilizing the genome. However, the precise influence of the DNA damage response on regulation ...of cancer-associated rearrangements is not well defined. Here we examine the genome-wide impact of tumor protein P53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) deficiency in lymphoma and translocation. While both activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and 53BP1 have been associated with cancer in humans, neither AID overexpression nor loss of 53BP1 is sufficient to produce malignancy. However, the combination of 53BP1 deficiency and AID deregulation results in B cell lymphoma. Deep sequencing of the genome of 53BP1−/− cancer cells and translocation capture sequencing (TC-Seq) of primary 53BP1−/− B cells revealed that their chromosomal rearrangements differ from those found in wild-type cells in that they show increased DNA end resection. Moreover, loss of 53BP1 alters the translocatome by increasing rearrangements to intergenic regions.
► 53BP1 prevents AID-induced B cell lymphoma ► 53BP1 suppresses DNA resection during chromosomal rearrangement genome-wide ► 53BP1 interferes with chromosomal rearrangements to intergenic regions
Chromosome translocations between oncogenes and the region spanning the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain (IgH) variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) gene segments (Ig V-J(H) region) are found ...in several mature B cell lymphomas in humans and mice. The breakpoints are frequently adjacent to the recombination signal sequences targeted by recombination activating genes 1 and 2 during antigen receptor assembly in pre-B cells, suggesting that these translocations might be the result of aberrant V(D)J recombination. However, in mature B cells undergoing activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-dependent somatic hypermutation (SHM), duplications or deletions that would necessitate a double-strand break make up 6% of all the Ig V-J(H) region-associated somatic mutations. Furthermore, DNA breaks can be detected at this locus in B cells undergoing SHM. To determine whether SHM might induce c-myc to Ig V-J(H) translocations, we searched for such events in both interleukin (IL) 6 transgenic (IL-6 tg) and AID(-/-) IL-6 tg mice. Here, we report that AID is required for c-myc to Ig V-J(H) translocations induced by IL-6.
Chromosome translocations between Ig (Ig) and non-Ig genes are frequently associated with B-cell lymphomas in humans and mice. The best characterized of these is c-myc/IgH translocation, which is ...associated with Burkitt's lymphoma. These translocations are caused by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which produces double-strand DNA breaks in both genes. c-myc/IgH translocations are rare events, in part because ATM, p53, and p19 actively suppress them. To further define the mechanism of protection against the accumulation of cells that bear c-myc/IgH translocation, we assayed B cells from mice that carry mutations in cell-cycle and apoptosis regulator proteins that act downstream of p53. We find that PUMA, Bim, and PKCδ are required for protection against c-myc/IgH translocation, whereas Bcl-XL and BAFF enhance c-myc/IgH translocation. Whether these effects are general or specific to c-myc/IgH translocation and whether AID produces dsDNA breaks in genes other than c-myc and Ig is not known. To examine these questions, we developed an assay for translocation between IgH and Igβ, both of which are somatically mutated by AID. Igβ/IgH, like c-myc/IgH translocations, are AID-dependent, and AID is responsible for lesions on IgH and the non-IgH translocation partners. However, ATM, p53, and p19 do not protect against Igβ/IgH translocations. Instead, B cells are protected against Igβ/IgH translocations by a BAFF- and PKCδ-dependent pathway. We conclude that AID-induced double-strand breaks in non-Ig genes other than c-myc lead to their translocation, and that at least two nonoverlapping pathways protect against translocations in primary B cells.
T Follicular Helper Cell Dynamics in Germinal Centers Shulman, Ziv; Gitlin, Alexander D.; Targ, Sasha ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
08/2013, Letnik:
341, Številka:
6146
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
T follicular helper (T FH ) cells are a specialized subset of effector T cells that provide help to and thereby select high-affinity B cells in germinal centers (GCs). To examine the dynamic behavior ...of T FH cells in GCs in mice, we used two-photon microscopy in combination with a photoactivatable fluorescent reporter. Unlike GC B cells, which are clonally restricted, T FH cells distributed among all GCs in lymph nodes and continually emigrated into the follicle and neighboring GCs. Moreover, newly activated T FH cells invaded preexisting GCs, where they contributed to B cell selection and plasmablast differentiation. Our data suggest that the dynamic exchange of T FH cells between GCs ensures maximal diversification of T cell help and that their ability to enter ongoing GCs accommodates antigenic variation during the immune response.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected 78 million individuals and is responsible for over 1.7 million deaths to date. Infection is associated with the development ...of variable levels of antibodies with neutralizing activity, which can protect against infection in animal models
. Antibody levels decrease with time, but, to our knowledge, the nature and quality of the memory B cells that would be required to produce antibodies upon reinfection has not been examined. Here we report on the humoral memory response in a cohort of 87 individuals assessed at 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection with SARS-CoV-2. We find that titres of IgM and IgG antibodies against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 decrease significantly over this time period, with IgA being less affected. Concurrently, neutralizing activity in plasma decreases by fivefold in pseudotype virus assays. By contrast, the number of RBD-specific memory B cells remains unchanged at 6.2 months after infection. Memory B cells display clonal turnover after 6.2 months, and the antibodies that they express have greater somatic hypermutation, resistance to RBD mutations and increased potency, indicative of continued evolution of the humoral response. Immunofluorescence and PCR analyses of intestinal biopsies obtained from asymptomatic individuals at 4 months after the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) revealed the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids and immunoreactivity in the small bowel of 7 out of 14 individuals. We conclude that the memory B cell response to SARS-CoV-2 evolves between 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection in a manner that is consistent with antigen persistence.
Antiretroviral therapy suppresses but does not cure HIV-1 infection due to the existence of a long-lived reservoir of latently infected cells. The reservoir has an estimated half-life of 44 mo and is ...largely composed of clones of infected CD4+ T cells. The long half-life appears to result in part from expansion and contraction of infected CD4+ T cell clones. However, the mechanisms that govern this process are poorly understood. To determine whether the clones might result from and be maintained by exposure to antigen, we measured responses of reservoir cells to a small subset of antigens from viruses that produce chronic or recurrent infections. Despite the limited panel of test antigens, clones of antigen-responsive CD4+ T cells containing defective or intact latent proviruses were found in seven of eight individuals studied. Thus, chronic or repeated exposure to antigen may contribute to the longevity of the HIV-1 reservoir by stimulating the clonal expansion of latently infected CD4+ T cells.
HIV-1 infection requires lifelong therapy with antiretroviral drugs due to the existence of a latent reservoir of transcriptionally inactive integrated proviruses. The goal of HIV-1 cure research is ...to eliminate or functionally silence this reservoir. To this end, there are numerous ongoing studies to evaluate immunological approaches, including monoclonal antibody therapies. Evaluating the results of these studies requires sensitive and specific measures of the reservoir. Here, we describe a relatively high-throughput combined quantitative PCR (qPCR) and next-generation sequencing method. Four different qPCR probes covering the packaging signal (PS), group-specific antigen (
), polymerase (
), and envelope (
) are combined in a single multiplex reaction to detect the HIV-1 genome in limiting dilution samples followed by sequence verification of individual reactions that are positive for combinations of any two of the four probes (Q4PCR). This sensitive and specific approach allows for an unbiased characterization of the HIV-1 latent reservoir.
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