In vivo VL-targeted microbial superantigen induced global shifts in the B cell repertoire

J Immunol. 2012 Jul 15;189(2):850-9. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1200245. Epub 2012 Jun 13.

Abstract

To subvert host defenses, some microbial pathogens produce proteins that interact with conserved motifs in V regions of B cell Ag receptor shared by large sets of lymphocytes, which define the properties of a superantigen. Because the clonal composition of the lymphocyte pool is a major determinant of immune responsiveness, this study was undertaken to examine the in vivo effect on the host immune system of exposure to a B cell superantigen, protein L (PpL), a product of the common commensal bacterial species, Finegoldia magna, which is one of the most common pathogenic species among Gram-positive anaerobic cocci. Libraries of Vκ L chain transcripts were generated from the spleens of control and PpL-exposed mice, and the expressed Vκ rearrangements were characterized by high-throughput sequencing. A total of 120,855 sequencing reads could be assigned to a germline Vκ gene, with all 20 known Vκ subgroups represented. In control mice, we found a recurrent and consistent hierarchy of Vκ gene usage, as well as patterns of preferential Vκ-Jκ pairing. PpL exposure induced significant targeted global shifts in repertoire with reduction of Vκ that contain the superantigen binding motif in all exposed mice. We found significant targeted reductions in the expression of clonotypes encoded by 14 specific Vκ genes with the predicted PpL binding motif. These rigorous surveys document the capacity of a microbial protein to modulate the composition of the expressed lymphocyte repertoire, which also has broad potential implications for host-microbiome and host-pathogen relationships.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Bacterial / biosynthesis
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Antigens, Bacterial / metabolism
  • B-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology*
  • B-Lymphocyte Subsets / metabolism
  • B-Lymphocyte Subsets / microbiology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / immunology
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / immunology
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / genetics
  • Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / immunology*
  • Immunoglobulin Variable Region / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin Variable Region / metabolism*
  • Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Peptostreptococcus / immunology
  • Peptostreptococcus / metabolism
  • Peptostreptococcus / pathogenicity
  • Superantigens / biosynthesis
  • Superantigens / immunology*
  • Superantigens / metabolism
  • Virulence / immunology

Substances

  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Immunoglobulin Variable Region
  • Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains
  • L-protein, Peptococcus magnus
  • Superantigens