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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: jimmunol.0901076v1 183/4/2537    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Related articles in The JI Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Burioni, R. Articles by Clementi, M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Burioni, R. Articles by Clementi, M. Pubmed/NCBI databases Substance via MeSH Medline Plus Health Information Coronary Artery Disease

Antigen-Driven Evolution of B Lymphocytes in Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques¹

Roberto Burioni^2,*, Filippo Canducci^2,*, Diego Saita^*, Mario Perotti^*, Nicasio Mancini^*, Donata De Marco^*, Nicola Clementi^*, Alaide Chieffo, Maurizio Denaro, Domenico Cianflone^*, Angelo A. Manfredi^*, Antonio Colombo, Attilio Maseri and Massimo Clementi^3,*

^* Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele and Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele, Milano, Italy, Bracco Imaging, San Donato Milanese, Italy; and Heart Care Foundation, Firenze, Italy

Recent data indicated that adaptive immunity is involved in the process of atherogenesis. Oligoclonal recruitment of T lymphocytes has been described in coronary plaques of patients with acute coronary syndrome. However, the nature of immune response remains to be determined. In the present study, we examined the Ab response in six coronary plaques obtained by endoluminal directional atherectomy. The IgG1/-coding gene repertoires of B lymphocytes present in circulating blood and in coronary plaques were cloned and analyzed. In all of the six plaques, we observed 1) a skewed usage of heavy and light IgG1/ Ab-coding genes, 2) an oligoclonal distribution of V_K, J_K, and V_H, D_H, and J_H genes with overrepresentation of some rarely used IgG genes, and 3) the unequivocal signs of Ag-driven clonal expansion and evolution of B cells. The data document for the first time the presence of a local Ag-driven clonal evolution of B cells in human atherosclerotic plaques.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ This work was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (PRIN) and by an institutional research grant form Bracco Imaging.

M.C., R.B., F.C., and A.M. designed the study, analyzed data, and wrote the paper; F.C. and D.S. performed experiments, analyzed data, and wrote the paper; D.D.M. performed experiments; M.P., N.M., and N.C. analyzed data; A.A.M., M.D., and D.C. commented on the manuscript; and A.C. and A.C. performed endarterectomies and enrolled patients. All authors declare that they participated in the study and that they have seen and approved the final version.

² R.B. and F.C. contributed equally to this work.

³ Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Massimo Clementi, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milano, Italy. E-mail address: massimo.clementi{at}hsr.it

⁴ Abbreviations used in this paper: ACS, acute coronary syndrome; CPS, coronary plaque sample; EDA, endoluminal directional artherectomy; HC, H chain; LC, L chain; PBL, peripheral blood lymphocyte.

⁵ The online version of this article contains supplemental material.

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The JI 2009 183: 2201-2202. [Full Text]