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,¶
*
Groupe de Recherche sur les Lymphomes, Institut Albert Bonniot, Domaine de la Merci, La Tronche, France;
Molecular Neuropathobiology Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, United Kingdom;
Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, United Kingdom;
Division of Tumor Biology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and
¶ Department of Pathology, Unit Experimental Oncopathology, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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and DR
chains form a complex with the invariant chain
(Ii)3
(1), which targets the class II/Ii complex into the
endocytic pathway (2). During transport to the Ag loading
compartments (dubbed MIIC for MHC class II-containing compartment), Ii
is degraded until only a class II-associated Ii peptide (CLIP) remains
bound to the class II peptide binding groove. In the MIICs, binding of
incoming Ag to class II requires the action of HLA-DM that resides in
endosomal/lysosomal compartments, as it catalyzes the release of CLIP
from the class II backbone (3, 4). Finally, the class
II-peptide complex is transported to the cell surface (5)
where interaction with an appropriate T cell can occur. In B lymphocytes, another MHC class II-like heterodimer, termed HLA-DO, associates with DM (6). The expression of the DO complex (7, 8) and the murine equivalent H2-O, is unusual in that it seems to be restricted to B lymphocytes and thymic epithelium (9, 10). B lymphocytes have unique features as APCs, in that they can take up Ags via a specific receptor, the B cell receptor (BCR). Recent studies demonstrated that DO is a negative modulator of the catalytic activity of DM (11, 12, 13). The action of DO depends on the pH of the compartment in which the DM/DO complex resides. DO effectively blocks DM function at the endosomal pH, while allowing DM action at the more acidic pH of the MIICs (11, 14, 15). In this way, DO action may skew the class II-peptide loading process toward acidic compartments. This may favor presentation of specific peptides internalized via the BCR, as these preferentially form a complex with class II in the MIICs (16, 17), while counteracting presentation of peptides that are taken up via fluid phase endocytosis. Indeed, DO modulates the antigenic peptide repertoire associated with class II molecules both qualitatively and quantitatively (13). Moreover, mice knockout for H2-O have enhanced class II presentation of fluid phase Ags as opposed to Ags internalized via BCR (11).
In this work, the expression and regulation of both modulators of class II-mediated Ag presentation as well as HLA class II molecules were studied in primary human B lymphocytes isolated from peripheral blood. The expression of DO in primary B lymphocytes is much higher than anticipated on the basis of previous studies with B cell lines. Strikingly, in in vivo low-density activated B lymphocytes the expression of both DM and DO is strongly reduced compared with high-density resting B lymphocytes. In vitro B cell stimulation via the BCR or with the phorbol ester PMA induced a reduction in DM and DO expression. Inactivation of protein kinase C (PKC) with the bisindolylmaleimide Ro 31-8220 resulted in a significant loss of HLA-DO expression and, in some cases, of HLA-DM. Lysosomal degradation could be involved as chloroquine (CQ) reverses the effect of Ro 31-8220. Thus, activation of primary B lymphocytes enable the cells to control the efficacy of MHC class II-mediated Ag presentation.
| Materials and Methods |
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The mouse mAbs 5C1 (anti-DM
) (18), DA6-147
(anti-DR
cytoplasmic tail) (19, 20), D1.12
(anti-DR
) (21), and CerCLIP (22) were
previously described. The anti-PKC
and anti-PKC
mAbs were
obtained from BD Transduction Laboratories (Lexington, KY) and
the anti-actin mAb was obtained from Oncogene Research Products
(Cambridge, MA).
The mAbs anti-CD80 labeled with FITC and anti-CD86 labeled with PE were obtained from Immunotech (Marseille, France), and the rabbit F(ab')2 Abs against human IgD labeled with FITC, IgG labeled with FITC, and IgM labeled with PE were from DAKO (High Wycombe, U.K.).
The rabbit anti-DO
serum was generated by immunizing a rabbit
with the C-terminal peptide (SGNEVSRAVLLPQSC) of DO
(8)
conjugated via glutaraldehyde (Sigma-Aldrich, Poole, U.K.) to
keyhole limpet hemocyanin (Calbiochem, La Jolla, CA). The DO
peptide
was synthesized using F-moc/tBu strategy, and structure and purity were
confirmed by HPLC analysis.
Analysis of Endoglycosidase H-resistant molecules was conducted
and showed that the 5C1 mAb and the rabbit anti-DO
serum
recognized mature populations, as DO
molecules were all resistant
and DM
presented one level of sensitivity to Endoglycosidase H as
reported for mature MHC class II
molecules (data not shown).
Cell lines and culture conditions
The Burkitts lymphoma B cell lines Raji (African origin, EBV-positive) and Ramos (American origin, EBV-negative) were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA). The cell lines were routinely grown in RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD) supplemented with 10% FCS (Life Technologies), penicillin/streptomycin, and glutamin in the presence of 5% CO2 at 37°C.
Preparation of B lymphocytes
Buffy-coats were obtained from healthy donors from the Isère and Savoie Blood Transfusion Center (n = 30; Grenoble, France), the London North Blood Bank (n = 19; London, U.K.) or the Central Laboratory for the Blood Transfusion Service (n = 13; Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Mononuclear cells were isolated by centrifugation on Ficoll-Hypaque gradient (Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). B lymphocytes were purified with anti-CD19 Dynabeads and detached with DETACHaBEAD (Dynal Biotech, Oslo, Norway), according to the manufacturers instructions. B lymphocytes isolated by this method were extensively shown to remain quiescent (23). The cell purity and viability was >99% as determined by cytofluorometric analysis (data not shown).
Purification of high- and low-density B lymphocytes
Freshly purified CD19+ B lymphocytes were
separated on a discontinuous Percoll (Pharmacia Biotech) density
gradient of 60, 50, 40, and 30% Percoll layers as previously described
(24). Lymphocytes obtained from the bottom of the 60%
fraction are referred to as high-density B lymphocytes and correspond
to cells in a resting state, and lymphocytes collected from the
5060% interface are referred to as low-density B lymphocytes and
correspond to cells with a more activated phenotype. Routinely, the
amount of cells obtained from the 5060% interface was
10 times
less than the amount obtained from the bottom of the 60% fraction. For
analysis, 5 x 106 B lymphocytes were
immediately lysed in 1% Nonidet P-40 lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl (pH
8), 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 1 mM 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzene sulfonyl
fluoride HCl, 100 µM iodoacetamide, 10 µM leupeptin) for 20 min at
4°C and centrifuged for 30 min at 10,000 x g. The
supernatants were stored at -20°C until further use.
In vitro activation of high-density B lymphocytes
B lymphocytes obtained from the bottom of the 60% fraction, high-density B lymphocytes, were cultured at 1 x 106 cells/ml for 24 h at 37°C in 5% CO2 in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% FCS, and activated with 20 ng/ml PMA (Sigma-Aldrich). Alternatively, cells were stimulated using the anti-DR mAb D1.12 (10 µg/ml) followed by cross-linking by F(ab')2 of goat anti-mouse IgG (20 µg/ml) (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, West Grove, PA). Cells were activated by BCR stimulation by addition of a F(ab')2 of goat anti-human IgM, Fc5µ fragment specific (5 µg/ml, azide free; Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories). Finally, cells were activated using a combination of IL-4 (10 ng/ml; Eurocetus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and anti-CD40 mAb (0.5 µg/ml, clone mAb89, azide free; Immunotech). After activation, cells were lysed in a 1% Nonidet P-40 lysis buffer and centrifuged, and supernatant was stored at -20°C until further use.
PKC inhibition
Freshly purified high-density B lymphocytes were incubated for 4 h with the PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide Ro 31-8220 (final concentration 10 µM; stock solution in DMSO; Calbiochem). Control cells were incubated with equivalent amounts of DMSO, representing less than 0.1% of the total volume. For inhibition of de novo protein synthesis, cells were preincubated for 1 h with cycloheximide (CHX) (final concentration 20 µM; stock solution in ethanol; Sigma-Aldrich) followed by a 4-h incubation in the presence or absence of Ro 31-8220 (10 µM). To neutralize the acidic pH of endosomal/lysosomal compartments, cells were preincubated with 200 µM CQ for 15 min, followed by 4 h with both CQ and Ro 31-8220 (10 µM) or CQ alone.
SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis
The protein content of cell lysates was quantified using the bicinchoninic acid protein assay (Pierce, Rockford, IL). SDS-PAGE of cell lysates was performed on 10% polyacrylamide gels after boiling of the samples for 10 min in reducing Laemmli sample buffer. For Western blot analysis, equal amounts of proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and transferred onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Immobilon P; Millipore, Bedford, MA) in 25 mM Tris, 192 mM glycine, 5% methanol, pH 8.3. In the case of transfer of high amounts of protein (i.e., up to 150 µg of protein per lane), a modified transfer buffer was used consisting of 10 mM 3(cyclohexylamino)-1-propane sulfonic acid, 5% methanol, pH 11. Membranes were blocked in 3% skimmed milk in PBS. Ab binding (in 1.5% skimmed milk in PBS) was detected by incubation with secondary HRP-conjugated rabbit anti-mouse or swine anti-rabbit Ig Abs (DAKO), followed by ECL detection (Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL). Washes were performed using 0.1% Triton X-100 in PBS.
For semiquantitative analysis of the Western blots, subsaturated autoradiograms were scanned and the signals were analyzed by densitometry (TINA 2.09 software; Raytest, Straubenhardt, Germany). The different samples of one experiment were loaded on the same gel and were therefore transferred and treated in the same conditions. The autoradiograms for actin were used as the reference for protein loading. The lane corresponding to the control (high-density cells or control of the experiment) was used as the reference and accorded an arbitrary value of 1. The ratio for the other lanes compared with the control was determined. The corresponding densitometric values for DR, DM, and DO were corrected by the obtained ratios. The corrected value for the control was accorded an arbitrary value of 100 and the corresponding percentage was calculated for the other conditions. After this standardization was done for every donor, the values were pooled together and the mean and SD were calculated.
FACS analysis
Cells (5 x 105 cells per experiment) were washed in PBS containing 0.02% NaN3 and incubated for 15 min on ice in PBS containing 0.02% NaN3, 5% FCS, 100 µg/ml human gamma-globulins (Calbiochem). Subsequently cells were washed, incubated with the unlabeled Abs for 30 min in PBS, 0.02% NaN3, and 1% BSA on ice, washed, and incubated with a secondary FITC-labeled F(ab')2 of goat anti-mouse Ig (DAKO) or with Abs directly labeled with FITC or PE, for 30 min on ice before washes and analysis on a FACScan cytometer (BD Biosciences, Moutain View, CA). Ten thousand events were acquired on living cells gated on forward scatter.
Statistical analysis
Two nonparametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney) were
used for statistical analysis of DR, DM, and DO expression in different
conditions in Figs. 2
, 4
, and 6
.
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| Results |
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So far, the function of the modulators of human MHC class II-mediated Ag presentation, HLA-DM and HLA-DO, has been studied in immortalized cells (6, 12, 13, 14). However, an important question remains; i.e., how do these modulators regulate the Ag presentation process and consequently the composition of the MHC class II antigenic peptide repertoire in the in vivo situation? Therefore, the physiological, in vivo expression levels of the various components of MHC class II-dependent Ag presentation were studied in human primary B lymphocytes isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy donors.
First, the phenotypic characteristics of the isolated primary B
lymphocytes were compared with those of two Burkitts
lymphoma B cell lines, Raji and Ramos, which are considered to
represent different maturation stages of B cell differentiation
(25). Human B lymphocytes purified from peripheral blood
were >80% IgM+ and IgD+
and <10% IgG+ (Figs. 2
A
and 1A, respectively), demonstrating that they constitute a
population of mature B lymphocytes. Ramos had an
IgM+, IgG-, and
IgD- phenotype and Raji did not express any
surface Ig (Fig. 1
A), as
described before (25).
|
The expression levels of the various proteins that contribute to the
efficiency of MHC class II Ag presentation were examined by Western
blot analysis of the B cell lines and different isolates of primary B
lymphocytes (Fig. 1
B). In total, Raji has a far more
abundant HLA-DR expression than Ramos, in agreement with the higher
cell surface levels of HLA-DR (Fig. 1
A). Both DM and DO
expression were higher in Raji than in Ramos as well (Fig. 1
B). In primary B lymphocytes the total HLA-DR expression
was of an intermediate level and DM expression was consistently
slightly higher (Fig. 1
B). However, in marked contrast, DO
expression was greatly enhanced in all primary isolates tested (Fig. 1
B). Western blot analysis of increasing protein levels
between primary B lymphocytes and the B cell lines demonstrated that
for Raji a total of 100150 µg of protein was necessary to obtain a
DO signal equivalent to that observed in primary B lymphocyte
lysates containing 510 µg protein (Fig. 1
C).
Thus, the in vivo DO expression level in primary B lymphocytes seems to
be much higher than anticipated so far from studies using immortalized
B cell lines, which is strongly indicative of an important
physiological role for DO in primary B lymphocytes.
Attenuation of DM and DO expression upon B cell activation
Next, we investigated whether the components of the MHC class II
Ag presentation pathway are subject to modulation in vivo via B cell
activation. For this, primary B lymphocytes were subjected to Percoll
gradient centrifugation, which separates the lymphocytes in fractions
according to their specific cellular density, because activated
lymphocytes have a lower density than resting lymphocytes
(24). Typically,
10% of the B lymphocytes migrated to
a low-density fraction and 90% to a higher-density fraction (data not
shown). As anticipated, FACS analysis of primary cells isolated from
the lower-density fractions shows a different scatter pattern than for
the cells isolated from the higher-density fractions (Table I
). Each fraction contained B lymphocytes
that were >80% of IgM+ and
IgD+ (Fig. 2
A) and <10%
IgG+ (data not shown), demonstrating that the
majority of both types of B lymphocytes were of a mature phenotype.
FACS analysis showed that the B lymphocytes obtained from the
lower-density fractions expressed both more CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR
(Table I
). Therefore, the B lymphocytes from the lower-density fraction
have a more activated phenotype than those migrating in the
higher-density fraction.
|
DM and DO expression and the cell surface deposition of DR/CLIP complexes
As variations in the relative expression levels of DM and DO may
affect exchange of CLIP for antigenic peptide onto class II molecules,
we compared the relative amount of DR/CLIP complexes vs total DR
complexes that reach the cell surface on Ramos, Raji, and high- and
low-density primary B lymphocytes from three donors. Ramos did not
significantly express any DR/CLIP at its cell surface, while
considerable amounts of cell surface exposed DR/CLIP were observed on
Raji (Fig. 3
). This correlates with the
observation that Ramos expressed relative low amounts of DR, hardly any
DO, and only slightly less DM than Raji (Fig. 1
B), a
situation that will ensure optimal CLIP removal from the relatively low
amount of newly synthesized DR/CLIP through an active DM pool that is
only marginally restrained by a minor pool of DO.
|
Down-modulation of DM and DO upon in vitro activation of primary B lymphocytes
Because in vivo the down-modulation of DO and DM expression
correlates with activation of the B lymphocytes, freshly isolated
high-density B lymphocytes were cultured for 24 h in the presence
of various in vitro stimuli. Soluble anti-IgM Ab (inducing B cell
proliferation) (28) was used to stimulate B lymphocytes
via BCR cross-linking. The mAb D1.12, recognizing an epitope near the
peptide binding groove on the DR
chain (29), was used
to stimulate the B lymphocytes via HLA-DR (30, 31). IL-4
and anti-CD40 mAb, a well-known combination for B lymphocyte
activation and proliferation, were applied as well (32, 33). Finally, cells were incubated with PMA, a potent B
lymphocyte activator via modulation of PKC (34, 35). All
stimuli induced various levels of B cell homotypic adhesion, except in
the control, indicative of effective stimulation/activation
(36) (data not shown). The consequences of in vitro
activation on expression of DR, DM, and DO were examined.
Semiquantitative analysis of three independent isolates showed a trend
of increased class II levels compared with control-treated cells with
all stimuli (Fig. 4
). The levels of both
DM
and DO
were significantly (p = 0.03
for both) and consistently decreased upon activation with PMA and
soluble anti-IgM Ab, while other in vitro stimuli did not affect
their expression (Fig. 4
). Similar results were obtained with a rabbit
serum against DO
(data not shown). BCR stimulation with soluble
anti-IgM Ab induced a reduction in DO and DM expression in 12
subsequently tested samples. PMA-induced down-modulation of DO and DM
expression was observed in all samples tested subsequently
(n = 14). Thus, the observed reduction of both DM and
DO in in vivo low-density B lymphocytes can be mimicked in vitro by
prolonged activation by PMA and, more importantly, after application of
a physiological stimulus like triggering of the BCR.
The cell surface level of HLA-DR/CLIP complexes was investigated on PMA and BCR-stimulated B lymphocytes (data not shown). Both the total level of cell surface expressed DR and the total level of DR/CLIP were enhanced upon stimulation, without significantly modifying the ratio of CLIP occupied class II vs total class II, in line with the concomitant diminution of both DM and DO expression.
PKC modulates DM and DO expression in primary human B lymphocytes
Addition of PMA initially induces a rapid activation of classical
(
,
, and
) and novel (
,
,
',
, and
) isoforms
of the PKC family and subsequently depletes the cellular PKC pool upon
prolonged incubation times (34, 35). The most abundantly
expressed PKC isoforms in B lymphocytes that can be modulated by
phorbol esters are PKC
and PKC
(37) and were
therefore explored in our study.
The effect of BCR triggering on DM and DO expression was examined in
more detail using the soluble anti-IgM Ab in a time course
experiment on high-density B lymphocytes. The decrease in DM and DO was
observed after 5 h and is marked at 15 h of BCR stimulation
(Fig. 5
A). Interestingly, a
slight reduction of PKC
but not of PKC
was observed at 15 h
of stimulation (Fig. 5
A).
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became apparent and from 15
h onwards PKC
decreased as well, until after 24 h both PKC
and PKC
could hardly be detected (Fig. 5
and PKC
, the major phorbol ester-sensitive
PKC pools in the B lymphocytes, preceded the decline in DM/DO
expression, suggesting involvement of PKC in DM and DO modulation. As
previously noted, the total expression level of DR was not negatively
affected during the course of PMA incubation (Fig. 5It is interesting to note that, in contrast to PMA stimulation, no total loss of PKC was observed after BCR stimulation. We cannot exclude that, to regulate the activation pathway via the BCR (38), a desensitization or inactivation of PKC without degradation could occur once the intracellular signal is delivered (39, 40, 41). The modulation of DM and DO expression seems to be selectively activated by some stimuli, because neither HLA-DR nor CD40 and IL-4 stimulation can modulate DM and DO, and it also appeared to be independent of cell proliferation as obtained with CD40 and IL-4 stimulation (data not shown and Ref. 33).
If PKC depletion is directly controlling the expression of DM and DO,
specific inhibition of PKC should yield a similar but more timely
effect. To examine this, primary high-density B lymphocytes from five
different donors were incubated for 4 h with Ro 31-8220, a
competitive and selective inhibitor of classic and novel PKCs.
Semiquantitative analysis on these samples showed a marked and
significant reduction in expression of DO (p =
0.008) and a trend toward reduction in DM (nonsignificant,
p = 0.151) (Fig. 6
).
Subsequent testing of a large panel of donors showed this result in
75% percent of the donors (11 of 15). The discrepancy concerning the
modulation of HLA-DM when comparing BCR and PMA stimulation with PKC
inhibition by Ro 31-8220 could be due to 1) a weaker effect of
Ro 31-8220, 2) a larger duration of inhibition required for DM
modulation, or 3) the influence of other factors besides PKC on DM
expression. Thus, in primary B lymphocytes PKC activity may, either
directly or indirectly, regulate the expression levels of the
modulators of HLA class II Ag presentation.
PKC regulates DM and DO expression via modulation of their degradation rate
Modulation of the steady state expression levels of DM and DO
occurs either via manipulation of their synthesis rates or via
regulation of the DM and DO life span. A coordinated transcriptional DM
and DO regulation, without affecting DR expression as well, is unlikely
because DMA, DMB, DOA, DRA, and DRB genes are under the control
of the same transcriptional regulator, CIITA (42, 43). The
coordinated modulation of DM and DO expression at the protein level is
more likely, because it has been shown that DO depends on its
association with DM for its steady state expression level and
endoplasmic reticulum exit (6). Subcellular
fractionation studies of DM-mutant B cell lines confirmed that also in
B lymphocytes, DO expression (and endoplasmic reticulum egress) depends
on DM expression (data not shown). The mode of DM and DO regulation was
investigated by PKC inhibition studies in the presence of CHX, an
inhibitor of initiation of protein translation (44). In
CHX-treated B lymphocytes, inhibition of PKC activity by Ro 31-8220 led
to the same reduction of DO as with Ro 31-8220 alone, and again less
for DM, in most isolates tested (Fig. 7
).
Thus, PKC-mediated regulation of DO expression and, to a lesser extent,
of DM, is independent from de novo protein synthesis and may involve a
post-translational control mechanism.
|
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| Discussion |
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Separation of primary B lymphocytes into low- and high-density populations revealed reduced expression of both DM and DO in in vivo activated B lymphocytes. Further in vitro activation of high-density B lymphocytes showed that down-modulation of DM and DO could be induced via the BCR stimulation or with the tumor promoter PMA. PMA thus provides a pharmacological and the BCR a physiological modulator of DM and DO expression. This effect on DM and DO expression was further explored on the basis that a long exposure to PMA results in degradation of PKC. The latter was previously shown to be able to control expression at the RNA or protein level (for review see Refs. 47 and 48). In this study, modulation of DM and DO expression is proposed to occur via a novel mechanism involving the PKC activity and the manipulation of lysosomal degradation of both DM and DO. Lysosomes are usually referred to as "dead-end organelles" but have also been reported to be prone to exocytosis (reviewed in Ref. 49) in certain conditions such as elevated intracellular calcium concentration (50, 51). Sundler and colleagues (52, 53) reported exocytosis of preformed lysosomal contents in mouse macrophages induced by zymosan particles. The same effect was obtained by increasing the lysosomal pH and was further enhanced by PKC activation. However, down-regulation of PKC inhibited the lysosomal exocytosis induced by zymosan or increase of lysosomal pH. These data could provide a parallel to our results where CQ alone induced down-regulation of DM and DO. Is this effect mediated by exocytosis of lysosomal contents? Another hypothesis could be that CQ, by modifying the environment and behavior of the proteins present in endo/lysosomal compartments, suppresses the identity of these compartments. The latter, not recognized by the cellular machinery, becomes prone to destruction and therefore presents a reduced half-life. Again, in concordance with Sundler et al. (52, 53), PKC inhibitor and CQ applied together resulted in an inhibition of the observed diminution of DM and DO. Although it seems improbable, because Ro 31-8220 and CQ act in different compartments (cytosol and lysosomes respectively), we cannot exclude the possibility that the two components act together in an unexpected way on DM and DO expression. In conclusion, our results reveal two phenomena: 1) a basal activity of PKC is needed to maintain the physiological expression level of DO and DM, and 2) DM/DO can be down-regulated by acting on PKC activity or on lysosomal pH by a mechanism that remains to be elucidated.
B lymphocytes become activated after Ag uptake and appropriate
costimulatory signals (reviewed in Refs. 54, 55, 56). Their
most efficient pathway of Ag uptake is mediated via the BCR and
targeting of the BCR-Ag complex to the MIICs (57, 58, 59).
Cross-linking of the BCR leads to activation of signaling cascades
initiated by ITAM phosphorylation of Ig
and recruitment of
tyrosine kinases such as Syk and Btk. They subsequently activate
extracellular signal-related kinase, phospholipase C, Ras, and
phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase. The resulting effects on B
lymphocyte activation and differentiation are therefore due to multiple
pathways, some of them being mediated by PKC (56, 60, 61, 62, 63).
Results from several studies indicate a role for PKC isoforms in the B
cell immune response. PKC
-deficient mice develop impaired humoral
immune responses and a reduced sensitivity to BCR stimulation, pointing
to a crucial function of PKC
in this pathway, as its absence cannot
be compensated for by other members of the PKC family
(64). Interestingly, the differentiation of B lymphocytes
into Ab-secreting plasma cells in mice is accompanied by an increase in
PKC
and loss of PKC
expression (65). Taken together
these observations indicate that PKC is an important factor for B
lymphocyte activation and differentiation. Previous studies have
already revealed an impact of signal transduction on the class II
processing and presentation pathway (reviewed in Ref. 66),
notably via the BCR (17) and more recently via the Fc
R
(67, 68). Signalization via the BCR or via Fc
R results
in fusion and acidification of the subcellular MIICs in which Ag
processing and class II loading occur. PKC is involved in the
modification of the MIICs as PMA/ionomicine stimulation reproduces the
effect of BCR stimulation (17). The Ag associated to its
receptor is specifically targeted to these modified compartments, and
Lang et al. (68) propose a role for
phosphatidylinositol-dependent protein kinase 1 and protein kinase B
in this process. Although we cannot exclude that other factors are
acting in the observed down-regulation of DM and DO, our results
support the notion that PKC has an important and crucial role, either
directly or indirectly, in the maintenance of these modulators of class
II-mediated Ag processing.
What is the physiological rationale and need for regulation of DM and
DO expression during B lymphocyte activation? The answer is likely to
lie in the need for tight control of class II-mediated Ag presentation
in B lymphocytes to avoid presentation of undesirable Ags. The data
presented in this work show that high-density B lymphocytes seem to be
optimally set for class II loading with specific Ag; the observed high
expression of DM will ensure effective class II peptide loading, while
the high levels of DO will skew peptide loading to the proper, acidic
Ag loading compartments. This presetting of the B lymphocyte before Ag
encounter may be required as the timeframe observed for uptake, and
class II loading of specific Ag is too short (< 20 min) (58, 59) for efficient up-regulation of DM and DO synthesis at this
stage. Moreover, in lymphoid organs, after Ag encounter by the B
lymphocyte there are strict temporal requirements for the recruitment
of T cell help necessary for B lymphocyte survival and development of
an immune response. In this study, B lymphocyte activation results in
enhanced down-regulation of particularly DM and DO. The observation
that B lymphocyte activation via the BCR leads to fusion and
acidification of the MIICs is of interest (17, 69),
because this process is likely to enhance the protease activity in the
MIICs. The latter would not only result in the rapid generation of the
desired antigenic peptides but may also lead to an elevated turnover
rate of MIIC resident proteins, as observed in this study for DM and
DO. This process would affect the turnover rate of class II molecules
far less, as they only reside in the MIICs for a limited time period
before being exported to the plasma membrane. Indeed, this is what we
observed. Physiologically, a reduction of DM and DO expression at this
stage of B lymphocyte activation would not affect presentation of the
specific Ag, because this rapid process would precede DM and DO
degradation. However, it would skew the activated B lymphocyte to a
state where subsequent class II loading with unrelated, and therefore
less desired, peptides would be minimized. The observation that, like
dendritic cells (70), low-density B lymphocytes express
relatively more DR on their cell surface and less intracellularly than
high-density cells (Table I
vs Fig. 2
) is in keeping with this
scheme.
In conclusion, we report selective modulation of DM and DO during B lymphocyte activation. Moreover, a novel and tightly controlled picture of B lymphocyte-specific regulation of class II-mediated Ag presentation begins to emerge. The regulation of both modulators of class II-mediated Ag presentation may ensure that they are optimally expressed at a stage where B lymphocytes need to be ready for an efficient and fast processing of specific Ag and subsequent class II loading.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Corinne Roucard, Groupe de Recherche sur les Lymphomes, Institut Albert Bonniot, Domaine de la Merci, 38706 La Tronche, France. E-mail address: Corinne.Roucard{at}ujf-grenoble.fr ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: Ii, invariant chain; BCR, B cell receptor; CHX, cycloheximide; CLIP, class II-associated Ii peptide; CQ, chloroquine; MIIC, MHC class II compartment; PKC, protein kinase C; MFI, mean fluorescence intensity. ![]()
Received for publication March 23, 2001. Accepted for publication October 15, 2001.
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are required for efficient trafficking to late endosomes and to enhance antigen presentation. J. Immunol. 162:6518.