TLR7- and TLR9-responsive human B cells share phenotypic and genetic characteristics.

ABSTRACT: B cells activated by nucleic acid-sensing TLR7 and TLR9 proliferate and secrete immune globulins. Memory B cells are presumably more responsive due to higher TLR expression levels, but selectivity and differential outcomes remain largely unknown. In this study, peripheral blood human B cells were stimulated by TLR7 or TLR9 ligands, with or without IFN-α, and compared with activators CD40L plus IL-21, to identify differentially responsive cell populations, defined phenotypically and by BCR characteristics. Whereas all activators induced differentiation and Ab secretion, TLR stimulation expanded IgM(+) memory and plasma cell lineage committed populations, and favored secretion of IgM, unlike CD40L/IL-21, which drove IgM and IgG more evenly. Patterns of proliferation similarly differed, with

SUBMITTER: Simchoni N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4369401 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature