Project description:In developing B cells the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus is thought to move from repressive to permissive chromatin compartments to facilitate its scheduled rearrangement. In mature B cells, maintenance of allelic exclusion has been proposed to involve recruitment of the non-productive IgH allele to pericentromeric heterochromatin. Here we used an allele-specific chromosome conformation capture combined with sequencing (4C-seq) approach to unambigously follow the individual IgH alleles in mature B lymphocytes. Despite their physical and functional difference, productive and non-productive IgH alleles in B cells and unrearranged IgH alleles in T cells share many chromosomal contacts and largely reside in active chromatin. In brain, however, the locus resides in a different, repressive environment. We conclude that IgH adopts a lymphoid-specific nuclear location that is however unrelated to maintenance of allelic exclusion. We additionally find that in mature B cells - but not in T cells – the distal VH regions of both IgH alleles position themselves away from active chromatin. This, we speculate, may help to restrict enhancer activity to the productively rearranged VH promoter element. Allele specific analysis of the nuclear organization of the IgH locus in resting and activated B cells and T cells and fetal brain cells
Project description:Programmed genetic rearrangements in lymphocytes require transcription at antigen receptor genes to promote accessibility for initiating double-strand break (DSB) formation critical for DNA recombination and repair. Here we show that activated B cells deficient in the PTIP component of the MLL3 (mixed-lineage leukemia 3) /MLL4 complex display impaired histone methylation (H3K4me3) and transcription initiation of downstream switch regions at the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (Igh) locus leading to defective immunoglobulin class-switching. We also show that PTIP accumulation at DSBs contributes to class-switch recombination (CSR) and genome stability independently from Igh switch transcription. These results demonstrate that PTIP promotes specific chromatin changes that control the accessibility of the Igh locus to CSR, and suggest a non-redundant role for the MLL3/MLL4 complex in altering antibody effector function. Genome-wide analysis of histone modifications, PTIP, and Pol II in PTIP-WT and PTIP-KO mouse activated B cells.
Project description:The human immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) locus is exceptionally polymorphic with high allelic diversity of variable (V) genes and structural variation affecting large regions of the locus. Thus, our germline IGHV gene and allele content is highly personal, which may influence how we respond to infections and vaccinations. Here, we coupled individualized IGHV genotyping with the isolation of monoclonal antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike, focusing on the IGHV1-69 and IGHV3-30 group of genes, which were over-represented in spike-specific B cells. These genes are characterized by both allelic and copy number variations, making them ideal for expanding our understanding of inter-individual differences in antigen-specific antibody responses. We found that for the IGHV1-69*20-using CAB-I47 antibody, the allele usage was critical as germline reversion to other, highly similar, IGHV1-69 alleles abolished the neutralizing activity. Our results demonstrate that as little as single nucleotide differences between different alleles can greatly influence the biological response.
Project description:Allele specific analysis of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus by simultaneous analysis of the productive and the non-productive allele through paired-end 4C sequencing analysis in mature B cells
Project description:In developing B cells the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus is thought to move from repressive to permissive chromatin compartments to facilitate its scheduled rearrangement. In mature B cells, maintenance of allelic exclusion has been proposed to involve recruitment of the non-productive IgH allele to pericentromeric heterochromatin. Here we used an allele-specific chromosome conformation capture combined with sequencing (4C-seq) approach to unambigously follow the individual IgH alleles in mature B lymphocytes. Despite their physical and functional difference, productive and non-productive IgH alleles in B cells and unrearranged IgH alleles in T cells share many chromosomal contacts and largely reside in active chromatin. In brain, however, the locus resides in a different, repressive environment. We conclude that IgH adopts a lymphoid-specific nuclear location that is however unrelated to maintenance of allelic exclusion. We additionally find that in mature B cells - but not in T cells – the distal VH regions of both IgH alleles position themselves away from active chromatin. This, we speculate, may help to restrict enhancer activity to the productively rearranged VH promoter element.
Project description:VH-DJH recombination of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (Igh) locus is temporally and spatially controlled during early B-cell development, and yet no regulatory elements other than the VH gene promoters have been identified throughout the entire 2.5-Mb VH gene cluster. Here we discovered novel regulatory sequences that are interspersed in the distal VH gene region. These conserved repeat elements were characterized by the presence of Pax5-dependent active chromatin, the binding of Pax5, E2A, CTCF and Rad21 as well as by Pax5-dependent antisense transcription in pro-B cells. The Pax5-activated intergenic repeat (PAIR) elements were no longer bound by Pax5 in pre-B and B cells consistent with the loss of antisense transcription, whereas E2A and CTCF interacted with PAIR elements throughout early B-cell development. The pro-B-cell-specific and Pax5-dependent activity of the PAIR elements suggests that they are involved in the regulation of distal VH-DJH recombination at the Igh locus. Analysis of chromatin and TF binding in rag2-/- and wt pro-B, DP T and Mature B cells. Chip-Seq of CTCF and Rad21. The provided data is in mm8 coordinates.
Project description:Programmed genetic rearrangements in lymphocytes require transcription at antigen receptor genes to promote accessibility for initiating double-strand break (DSB) formation critical for DNA recombination and repair. Here we show that activated B cells deficient in the PTIP component of the MLL3 (mixed-lineage leukemia 3) /MLL4 complex display impaired histone methylation (H3K4me3) and transcription initiation of downstream switch regions at the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (Igh) locus leading to defective immunoglobulin class-switching. We also show that PTIP accumulation at DSBs contributes to class-switch recombination (CSR) and genome stability independently from Igh switch transcription. These results demonstrate that PTIP promotes specific chromatin changes that control the accessibility of the Igh locus to CSR, and suggest a non-redundant role for the MLL3/MLL4 complex in altering antibody effector function.
Project description:Productive rearrangement of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus triggers a major developmental checkpoint that promotes limited clonal expansion of pre-B cells, culminating in cell cycle arrest and rearrangement of the kappa (κ) or lambda (λ) light-chain loci. B lineage cells lacking the related transcription factors IRF-4 and IRF-8 undergo a developmental arrest at the cycling pre-B cell stage and are blocked for light-chain recombination. Using Irf-4,8-/- pre-B cells we demonstrate that two pathways converge to synergistically drive light-chain rearrangement, a process that is not simply activated by cell cycle exit. One pathway is directly dependent on IRF-4, whose expression is elevated by pre-BCR signaling. IRF-4 targets the κ 3Ⲡand λ enhancers to increase locus accessibility and positions a kappa allele away from pericentromeric heterochromatin. The other pathway is triggered by attenuation of IL-7 signaling and results in activation of the κ intronic enhancer via binding of the transcription factor, E2A. Intriguingly, IRF-4 regulates the expression of CXCR4 and promotes the migration of pre-B cells in response to the chemokine CXCL12. We propose that IRF-4 coordinates the two pathways regulating light-chain recombination by positioning pre-B cells away from IL-7 expressing stromal cells. We used microarrys to identify the changes in gene expression under different levels of the cytokine IL-7 and after rescue of genetic defect. Experiment Overall Design: IRF4,8 null pre-B cells were cultures in the indicated conditions prior to RNA isolation and hybridization to Affymetrix arrays.