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1: J Immunol. 2004 May 1;172(9):5154-7.Click here to read Links

Cutting edge: IL-21 is a switch factor for the production of IgG1 and IgG3 by human B cells.

Pène J, Gauchat JF, Lécart S, Drouet E, Guglielmi P, Boulay V, Delwail A, Foster D, Lecron JC, Yssel H.

Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 454, Montpellier, France.

IL-21 is a cytokine that regulates the activation of T and NK cells and promotes the proliferation of B cells activated via CD40. In this study, we show that rIL-21 strongly induces the production of all IgG isotypes by purified CD19(+) human spleen or peripheral blood B cells stimulated with anti-CD40 mAb. Moreover, it was found to specifically induce the production of IgG(1) and IgG(3) by CD40-activated CD19(+)CD27(-) naive human B cells. Although stimulation of CD19(+) B cells via CD40 alone induced gamma 1 and gamma 3 germline transcripts, as well as the expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase, only stimulation with both anti-CD40 mAb and rIL-21 resulted in the production of S gamma/S mu switch circular DNA. These results show that IL-21, in addition to promoting growth and differentiation of committed B cells, is a specific switch factor for the production of IgG(1) and IgG(3).

PMID: 15100251 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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