Cellular competition independent of BAFF/B lymphocyte stimulator results in low frequency of an autoreactive clonotype in mature polyclonal B cell compartments.

ABSTRACT: The peripheral B cell prosurvival cytokine BAFF/B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) has been proposed to participate in the regulation of immunological tolerance. Selective elimination or reconstitution of B cells expressing transgene-encoded, autoreactive BCRs upon systemic BLyS depletion or supplementation, respectively, was observed in two separate studies. Such findings led to a model positing a higher dependency of autoreactive B cells on BLyS. We tested this model by exploiting two targeted IgH transgenic mice (H chain knock-in [HKI]) that produce large numbers of follicular (FO) B cells that are either weakly or strongly autoreactive with nuclear autoantigens. Even though HKI B cells do not exhibit classical features of anergy, we found that mature, naive, autoreactive HKI B cells are ou

SUBMITTER: Nikbakht N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3119736 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature