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pubmed:abstractText |
Multiple mechanisms of tolerance induction limit autoimmunity, but their relative contribution for lymphocytes recognizing self-antigens of differing availability is incompletely understood. The mechanisms applied to arthritogenic B cells expressing antigen-specific B cell receptors (BCRs) with different affinities for glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI) were examined in the corresponding Ig gene knock-in mice. This ubiquitously expressed and blood-borne enzyme is the target autoantigen in the K/BxN model of inflammatory arthritis and perhaps in some humans with arthritis. Negative selection of B cells expressing high-affinity anti-GPI specificities, whose surface receptors were occupied by GPI, operated mainly at the transitional B cell stages in the spleen, preventing their final differentiation and entry into follicular areas. Receptor editing contributed to the purging of cells displaying anti-GPI BCRs, and significant numbers of autoreactive cells escaped through expression of an additional Ig light (L) chain, accumulating gradually in lymphoid organs. In contrast, low-affinity anti-GPI B cells, whose surface receptors did not carry GPI, matured normally. The "escaped" dual-L-chain cells and the "ignored" low-affinity cells are the likely precursors of cells that produce pathogenic autoantibodies once T cell help is provided. These studies portray, in a single system, the range of tolerance mechanisms applied to potentially pathogenic B cells, and serve as a base for dissecting where T cell help intervenes and where therapeutic agents impinge.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Section on Immunology and Immunogenetics, Joslin Diabetes Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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pubmed:publicationType |
Journal Article,
In Vitro,
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't,
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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