Franke F, Kirchenbaum GA, Kuerten S, Lehmann PV. IL-21 in Conjunction with Anti-CD40 and IL-4 Constitutes a Potent Polyclonal B Cell Stimulator for Monitoring Antigen-Specific Memory B Cells.
Cells 2020;
9:cells9020433. [PMID:
32069813 PMCID:
PMC7072853 DOI:
10.3390/cells9020433]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Revised: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Detection of antigen-specific memory B cells for immune monitoring requires their activation, and is commonly accomplished through stimulation with the TLR7/8 agonist R848 and IL-2. To this end, we evaluated whether addition of IL-21 would further enhance this TLR-driven stimulation approach; which it did not. More importantly, as most antigen-specific B cell responses are T cell-driven, we sought to devise a polyclonal B cell stimulation protocol that closely mimics T cell help. Herein, we report that the combination of agonistic anti-CD40, IL-4 and IL-21 affords polyclonal B cell stimulation that was comparable to R848 and IL-2 for detection of influenza-specific memory B cells. An additional advantage of anti-CD40, IL-4 and IL-21 stimulation is the selective activation of IgM+ memory B cells, as well as the elicitation of IgE+ ASC, which the former fails to do. Thereby, we introduce a protocol that mimics physiological B cell activation through helper T cells, including induction of all Ig classes, for immune monitoring of antigen-specific B cell memory.
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