Long-term kinetics of adult human antibody repertoires

Plasticity of the human IgM repertoire in response to long-term spaceflight

Immune dysregulation is among the main adverse outcomes of spaceflight. Despite the crucial role of the antibody repertoire in host protection, the effects of spaceflight on the human antibody repertoire are unknown. Consequently, using high-throughput sequencing, we examined the IgM repertoire of five cosmonauts 25 days before launch, after 64 ± 11 and 129 ± 20 days spent on the International Space Station (ISS), and at 1, 7, and 30 days after landing. This is the first study of this kind in humans. Our data revealed that the IgM repertoire of the cosmonauts was different from that of control subjects (n = 4) prior to launch and that two out the five analyzed cosmonauts presented significant changes in their IgM repertoire during the mission. These modifications persisted up to 30 days after landing, likely affected the specificities of IgM binding sites, correlated with changes in the V(D)J recombination process responsible for creating antibody genes, and coincided with a higher stress response. These data confirm that the immune system of approximately half of the astronauts who spent 6 months on the ISS is sensitive to spaceflight conditions, and reveal individual responses indicating that personalized approaches should be implemented during future deep-space exploration missions that will be of unprecedented durations.

Multispecific Antibody Development Platform Based on Human Heavy Chain Antibodies

Heavy chain-only antibodies (HCAbs) do not associate with light chains and their V_H regions are functional as single domains, forming the smallest active antibody fragment. These V_H regions are ideal building blocks for a variety of antibody-based biologics because they tolerate fusion to other molecules and may also be attached in series to construct multispecific antibodies without the need for protein engineering to ensure proper heavy and light chain pairing. Production of human HCAbs has been impeded by the fact that natural human V_H regions require light chain association and display poor biophysical characteristics when expressed in the absence of light chains. Here, we present an innovative platform for the rapid development of diverse sets of human HCAbs that have been selected in vivo. Our unique approach combines antibody repertoire analysis with immunization of transgenic rats, called UniRats, that produce chimeric HCAbs with fully human V_H domains in response to an antigen challenge. UniRats express HCAbs from large transgenic loci representing the entire productive human heavy chain V(D)J repertoire, mount robust immune responses to a wide array of antigens, exhibit diverse V gene usage and generate large panels of stable, high affinity, antigen-specific molecules.

Naive antibody gene-segment frequencies are heritable and unaltered by chronic lymphocyte ablation

A diverse antibody repertoire is essential for an effective adaptive immune response to novel molecular surfaces. Although past studies have observed common patterns of V-segment use, as well as variation in V-segment use between individuals, the relative contributions to variance from genetics, disease, age, and environment have remained unclear. Using high-throughput sequence analysis of monozygotic twins, we show that variation in naive V(H) and D(H) segment use is strongly determined by an individual's germ-line genetic background. The inherited segment-use profiles are resilient to differential environmental exposure, disease processes, and chronic lymphocyte depletion therapy. Signatures of the inherited profiles were observed in class switched germ-line use of each individual. However, despite heritable segment use, the rearranged complementarity-determining region-H3 repertoires remained highly specific to the individual. As it has been previously demonstrated that certain V-segments exhibit biased representation in autoimmunity, lymphoma, and viral infection, we anticipate our findings may provide a unique mechanism for stratifying individual risk profiles in specific diseases.

Antibody Quality in Old Age

There is very little change in the quantity of antibodies people produce, of any isotype, with age. However, there is a change in the quality of the antibody response. Older people produce fewer antibodies that are specific for the activating pathogen or vaccine. At the same time, the number of nonspecific antibodies increases. Quite often these antibodies have self-reactivity (e.g., anti-dsDNA). The appearance of these antibodies is not associated with pathogenic autoimmune disease, although it is true that the incidence of some autoimmune diseases increases with age. The authors postulate that the process of antibody affinity maturation is compromised in old age. No evidence was found that the process of hypermutation is compromised with age. However, using graph theory to study the dynamics of a germinal center selection process, a decrease in the extent of selection occurring in the germinal centers of mucosal tissue was observed with age. This is a tissue-specific phenomenon because the decrease was not seen in the germinal centers of spleen. Because selection of highly specific cells in the germinal center depends on a number of factors (number and quality of founder cells, help from T cells, and follicular dendritic cells) these need to be investigated further to determine what is needed to improve the affinity mutation process.

A high-affinity natural autoantibody from human cord blood defines a physiologically relevant epitope on the FcepsilonRIalpha

Natural Abs represent the indigenous immune repertoire and are thus present at birth and persist throughout life. Previously, human autoantibodies to the alpha domain of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRIalpha) have been isolated from Ab libraries derived from normal donors and patients with chronic urticaria. To investigate whether these anti-FcepsilonRIalpha Abs are present in the germline repertoire, we constructed a phage Fab display library from human cord blood, which represents the naive immune repertoire before exposure to exogenous Ags. All isolated clones specific to the FcepsilonRIalpha had the same sequence. This single IgM Ab, named CBMalpha8, was strictly in germline configuration and had high affinity and functional in vitro anaphylactogenic activity. Inhibition experiments indicated an overlapping epitope on the FcepsilonRIalpha recognized by both CBMalpha8 and the previously isolated anti-FcepsilonRIalpha Abs from autoimmune and healthy donors. This common epitope on FcepsilonRIalpha coincides with the binding site for IgE. Affinity measurements demonstrated the presence of Abs showing CBMalpha8-like specificity, but with a significantly lower affinity in i.v. Ig, a therapeutic multidonor IgG preparation. We propose a hypothesis of escape mutants, whereby the resulting lower affinity IgG anti-FcepsilonRIalpha Abs are rendered less likely to compete with IgE for binding to FcepsilonRIalpha.

Detection of one VH antibody sequence in both healthy donors and urticaria patients

We have previously isolated anti-FcepsilonRIalpha autoantibodies from phage libraries of healthy donors and urticaria patients. Strikingly, the same antibody, LTMalpha15, was isolated from both libraries. Sequence analysis revealed a germline configuration of the LTMalpha15 variable heavy (V(H)) chain with a slightly mutated variable light (V(L)) chain supporting its classification as a natural autoantibody. Distribution analysis of anti-FcepsilonRIalpha autoantibodies by functional or serological tests delivered conflicting data. For this reason we have developed a new real-time PCR to analyse the distribution of LTMalpha15V(H) in healthy donors and urticaria patients. Our new bioinformatic program permitted the design of a minor groove binder (MGB) TaqMan probe that specifically detected the LTMalpha15V(H). We were able to demonstrate a broad range of rearranged V(H) gene copy number without any correlation to the state of health. Monitoring LTMalpha15V(H) gene copy number in a single donor over a period of 70 days revealed a time-related fluctuation of circulating B cells carrying LTMalpha15V(H). We propose that our real-time PCR may serve as a model for the quantification of natural antibody sequences at a monoclonal level.

Regeneration of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain repertoire after transient B-cell depletion with an anti-CD20 antibody

B-cell depletive therapies have beneficial effects in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Nevertheless, the role of B cells in the pathogenesis of the disease is not clear. In particular, it is not known how the regeneration of the B-cell repertoire takes place. Two patients with active rheumatoid arthritis were treated with rituximab, and the rearranged immunoglobulin heavy-chain genes (Ig-VH) were analysed to follow the B-cell regeneration. Patient A was treated with two courses of rituximab, and B-cell regeneration was followed over 27 months by analysing more than 680 Ig-VH sequences. Peripheral B-cell depletion lasted 7 months and 10 months, respectively, and each time was accompanied by a clinical improvement. Patient B received one treatment course. B-cell depletion lasted 5 months and was accompanied by a good clinical response. B cells regenerated well in both patients, and the repopulated B-cell repertoire was characterised by a polyclonal and diverse use of Ig-VH genes, as expected in adult individuals. During the early phase of B-cell regeneration we observed the expansion and recirculation of a highly mutated B-cell population. These cells expressed very different Ig-VH genes. They were class-switched and could be detected for a short period only. Patient A was followed long term, whereby some characteristic changes in the VH2 family as well as in specific mini-genes like VH3-23, VH 4-34 or VH 1-69 were observed. In addition, rituximab therapy resulted in the loss of clonal B cells for the whole period. Our data show that therapeutic transient B-cell depletion by anti-CD20 antibodies results in the regeneration of a diverse and polyclonal heavy-chain repertoire. During the early phase of B-cell regeneration, highly mutated B cells recirculate for a short time period in both the patients analysed. The longitudinal observation of a single patient up to 27 months shows subtle intraindividual changes, which may indicate repertoire modulation.

Structural analysis of substitution patterns in alleles of human immunoglobulin VH genes

The diversity in repertoires of antibodies (Abs) needed in response to the antigen challenge is produced by evolutionary and somatic processes. The mechanisms operating at a somatic level have been studied in great detail. In contrast, neither the mechanisms nor the strategies of diversification at an evolutionary level have yet been understood in similar detail. Particularly, the substitution patterns in alleles of immunoglobulin genes (Igs) have not been systematically studied. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of studies which link the analysis at a genetic level of the diversification of repertoires with the structural consequences at the protein level of the changes in DNA information. For the purpose of systematically characterizing the strategies of evolutionary diversification through sequence variation at alleles, in this work, we built a database for all the alleles of the IGHV locus in humans reported until now. Based on these data, we performed diverse analyses of substitution patterns and linked these results with studies at the protein level. We found that the sequence diversification in different alleles does not operate with equal intensity for all V genes. Our studies, both of the number of substitutions and of the type of amino acid change per sub-segment of the V-REGION evidenced differences in the selective pressure to which these regions are exposed. The implications of these results for understanding the evolutionary diversification strategies, as well as for the somatic generation of antibody repertoires are discussed.