INTRODUCTION: Programmed Death Ligand 2 positive B1 cells (L2pB1) cells have a unique immunoglobulin repertoire that is poly-reactive to self-antigens and have previously been shown to have an essential role in autoimmunity. The active accumulation of L2pB1 cells inside tumors grown in vivo led us to hypothesize that this subpopulation of B1a cells may play a role in the immunosurveillance of cancer. Here, we report our investigation of the role of L2pB1 cells in the antitumor response using a three dimensional (3D) murine melanoma and colon cancer models. Our results showed that the depletion of L2pB1 cells rendered the loss of tumor inhibition effects of the syngeneic peritoneal immune cells. METHODS: Lymphocytes were collected from L2pB1 cell depleted and non-depleted peritoneal cavity washout (PCW) from an inducible knockout mouse model. Then tumor spheroids were incubated with PCW cells. Spheroid cross-sectional area (CSA) and volume were measured using a Celigo plate imager and Keyence fluorescence microscope. RESULTS: Tumor spheroid growth was significantly inhibited following incubation with syngeneic PCW but not with splenocytes. Depletion of L2pB1 significantly attenuated the tumor-inhibition effect and showed a negligible difference from the untreated control. This loss of tumor inhibition indicated that L2pB1 cells are essential for the tumor-inhibition effects of autologous peritoneal immune cells. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the robust anti-tumor function of L2pB1 cells. In particular, peritoneal L2pB1 cells play an essential role in cancer inhibition. Future studies into the activation and antigen presentation pathways of L2pB1 cells could lead to novel immunotherapy of cancer.

B-lymphocytes are a subset of immune cells that can be distinguished mainly by carrying clonally diversified membrane-bound immunoglobulin specialized to specific antigen recognition. Together with other immunocytes B-lymphocytes play a central role in adaptive immune system which takes part in defense of the host against wide variety of pathogens. Recently the evidence has supported the emerging concept of different B-cell subpopulations to play a direct or indirect role in a pathogenesis of spectrum of disorders. However, so far the knowledge has been limited mainly in the way of how the specific differentiation stages of B-lymphocytes are involved in pathogenesis of diseases and how course of disease, stage, and eventually different treatment can affect B-cell homeostasis. That is the reason for the thesis to be focused on an analysis of B-cell population profile changes in disease, identification of any association present among specific B-cell subpopulations, as well as association between these subpopulations and clinical parameters. Using polychromatic flow cytometry we analyzed frequencies of 11 B-cell subpopulations including stages of transient B-lymphocytes through effector antibody-producing plasma cells. We examined 81 individuals including 22 healthy controls and 59 patients with...

L’expression de ZAP-70 dans la leucémie lymphoïde chronique (LLC) est associée à une hypersignalisation du BCR et à la survenue de cytopénies auto-immunes (CAI). Les LB non tumoraux expriment aussi ZAP-70, expression corrélée à celle dans les LB tumoraux et aux CAI. Nous avons montré que ces LB non tumoraux ZAP-70+ sont polyclonaux, sans lien moléculaire entre eux ni avec le clone tumoral et qu’il n’existe pas de stéréotypie de leur BCR. Ces LB présentent par contre un enrichissement en BCR autoréactifs. Notre modèle murin knock in Zap-70+/- // Mb1-Cre+/- a montré qu’une forte expression précoce de ZAP-70 dans les LB est associée à un avantage sélectif médullaire, un enrichissement en cellules potentiellement autoréactives de type zone marginale, à un blocage partiel de la maturation et de la différentiation périphérique, ainsi qu’au développement de caractéristiques de la LLC : hypogammaglobulinémie, enrichissement en auto-anticorps circulants, hyperactivation et prolifération cellulaires augmentées. Ces résultats ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives impliquant ZAP-70 dans la compréhension du développement B et de la physiopathologie de la rupture de tolérance et de la transformation néoplasique. / ZAP-70 expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is associated with BCR hypersignalling and autoimmune cytopenia (AIC) occurrence. Non tumoral B cells also express ZAP-70, which is correlated with those in tumoral B cells and AIC. We have shown that these non tumoral B cells ZAP-70+ are polyclonal, without molecular link between each other and tumoral B cells, and without BCR stereotypy. These cells are however enriched in autoreactive BCR. Our mouse model knock in Zap-70+/- // Mb1-Cre+/- revealed that a high and early ZAP-70 expression is associated with medullar selective advantage, enrichment in potential autoreactive B cells of marginal zone subtype, partial block for peripheral maturation and differentiation, along with some LLC characteristics: hypogammaglobulinemia, enrichment in circulating auto-antibodies, increase in cellular activation and proliferation. These results open new opportunities involving ZAP-70 in the understanding of B cell development and physiopathology of tolerance breakdown and neoplastic transformation.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 1, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

La leucémie lymphoïde chronique (LLC) constitue l'hémopathie maligne la plus fréquente dans les pays occidentaux et résulte d’une accumulation de lymphocytes B (LB) monoclonaux matures porteurs de la glycoprotéine CD5. Les LB de LLC sont également caractérisées par une altération de l'homéostasie du calcium avec, d'une part, la mise en évidence de facteurs de survie contrôlés par le calcium tels que phospho-ERK, NFAT-2 et IL-10, et d'autre part par une progression de la maladie qui est associée à la réponse au calcium. Tout d'abord, afin de mieux comprendre l'impact de la molécule CD5 sur les dérégulations du calcium, il a été montré que l'introduction d'un plasmide d'expression pour CD5 dans les lignées de cellules B humaines s'accompagnait d'une entrée calcique à l’état basale. Ensuite, cette entrée, appelée entrée constitutive, a été recherchée dans les LB de LLC pour montrer qu'elle caractérisait les patients non traités en phase d'évolution. Comme pour les lignées de cellules B CD5, cette nouvelle voie d'entrée du calcium est autonome et indépendante de la voie classique de signalisation du LB de LLC : BCR-IP3R. L'étude des protéines responsables de cet influx a permis de mettre en évidence, premièrement trois partenaires STIM1, Orai1 et TRPC1, et deuxièmement l'importance de la fraction membranaire de STIM1 (STIMPM) puisque l'utilisation d'un anticorps monoclonal anti-STIM1 (Acm) est capable d’inhiber l'entrée constitutive du calcium qui à son tour agit sur la survie des LB, pour les patients STIMPM positifs, lorsque l'Acm anti-STIM1 est utilisé en association avec le rituximab, un Acm thérapeutique anti-CD20. Enfin, la modélisation de la partie Cterminale de STIM1 permet d'envisager plusieurs cibles potentielles pour le développement de nouveaux Acm anti-STIM1. En conclusion, la mise en place, par le clone malin de LLC, d'une entrée constitutive du calcium favorise son agressivité et constitue donc une nouvelle voie thérapeutique contrôlable par l'utilisation d’Acm anti-STIM1 ce qui ouvre de nouvelles perspectives comme outils diagnostiques et thérapeutiques. / Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common hematological malignancy in Western countries and is a result of the accumulation of mature monoclonal B lymphocytes (B-CLL) carrying the CD5 glycoprotein. The B-CLL are also characterized by an alteration of calcium homeostasis with, on the one hand, the demonstration of calcium-controlled survival factors such as phospho-ERK, NFAT- 2 and IL-10, and on the other hand by a progression of the disease which is associated with the response to calcium. Initially, in order to better understand the impact of the CD5 molecule on calcium deregulations, it has been shown that the introduction of an expression plasmid for CD5 into human B cell lines was accompanied by a calcium entry in the basal state. Then, this entry, called constitutive entry, was sought in the B-CLL to show that it characterized untreated patients in the evolution phase.As with CD5 B cell lines, this new calcium entry pathway is autonomous and independent of the classical B-CLL signaling pathway: BCR-IP3R. The study of the proteins responsible for this influx made it possible to highlight, firstly three partners (STIM1, Orai1 and TRPC1), and secondly the importance of the membrane fraction of STIM1 (STIMPM) since the use of a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) anti-STIM1 is able to inhibit the constitutive entry of calcium which in turn acts on the survival of B-CLL, for STIMPM positive patients, when the anti-STIM1 mAb was used in combination with rituximab, a therapeutic anti-CD20 mAb. Finally, the modeling of the C-terminal part of STIM1 makes it possible to envisage several potential targets for the development of new anti-STIM1 mAbs. In conclusion, the introduction by the CLL malignant clone of a constitutive entry of calcium favors its aggressiveness and thus constitutes a new therapeutic pathway controllable by the use of anti-STIM1 mAb, which opens new perspectives like diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

B-cells of peripheral blood in humans represent a heterogeneous cellular environment displaying many important functions in the immune system. Recently, there is an increasing amount of evidence that B cell subpopulations are involved in the pathogenesis of many different diseases. However, there is little or no knowledge on how the individual differentiation stages of B lymphocytes are involved in pathological processes, and how they are distributed and represented under the physiological state and under pathological conditions. There is a reasonable assumption that, as with dendritic cells, NK / NKT cells and T lymphocytes, also B cell populations will contain minor and/or rare subpopulations reaching relative frequencies in the range of 0.01% to 0, 1 ‰. The primary aim of this thesis was to investigate the extent of phylogenetic and ontogenetic heterogeneity of the peripheral B cell population and lymphopoietic tissues on the basis of a comparative study across different vertebrate species. Another goal of the work was to use polychromatic flow cytometry with 183 individuals, out of them 50 controls and 133 patients with different (immune) pathologies or tumors in order to identify an optimal combination of surface features, and to use it to detect and demonstrate the existence of minor/rare...

The immune system will maintain the integrity of the organism from harmful non-malicious recognizes and protects the body against exo- and endogenous toxic substances and together with the nervous and endocrine system are among regulatory systems of the organism. Recently the evidence has supported the emerging concept of different B cell subpopulations to play a direct or indirect role in a pathogenesis of spectrum of disorders. However, so far the knowledge has been limited mainly in the way of how the specific differentiation stages of B lymphocytes are involved in pathogenesis of diseases and how course of disease, stage, and eventually different treatment can affect B cell homeostasis. This work is focused on the study of peripheral CD27+ B lymphocytes (one of the least explored human B lymphocytes) in healthy controls and patients with various immunopathologies, in this case we present representative results for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Using polychromatic flow cytometry we examined 31 of peripheral blood samples, including 14 controls, 7 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 5 with ulcerative colitis (UC). In 6 patients with CD, we were able to perform immunophenotyping also 2 hours after intravenous administration of infliximab, and in one patient 14 days after drug...

La thérapie antirétrovirale (ART) a permis d’augmenter l’espérance de vie et sa qualité chez les individus infectés par le VIH-1. Toutefois, l’inflammation chronique persiste et est associée à un excès du « B-cell activating factor » (BAFF). Cette cytokine est un facteur clé de la survie et la différenciation des lymphocytes B, en particulier pour ceux dits de la zone marginale (MZ) qui sont des populations B dites innées possédant un « B-cell receptor » (BCR) polyréactif. Dans le contexte de l’infection au VIH-1, l’excès de BAFF a été associé avec la dérégulation du compartiment B, l’hyperglobulinémie, ainsi que le bris de tolérance et l’apparition de manifestations auto-immunes. De plus, nous avons observé une augmentation de la fréquence d’une population présentant à la fois des caractéristiques de cellules B MZ et transitionnelles immatures (TI) que nous avons nommée « précurseurs des MZ » (MZp) dans le sang des individus infectés. Ces MZp partagent également certains marqueurs phénotypiques avec plusieurs populations B régulatrices (Breg) identifiées chez l’humain. Les objectifs de ce travail sont de 1) caractériser le potentiel Breg des MZp par l’analyse de leur transcriptome et par cytométrie en flux, puis 2) d’étudier l’impact de l’infection au VIH-1 et d’un excès de BAFF sur le potentiel Breg des MZp sanguins d’individus de la cohorte de la primo-infection (PHI) du réseau FRQS, et 3) d’étudier l’impact de l’infection au VIH-1 et d’un excès de BAFF sur la production d’anticorps spécifiques au VIH-1 et la possible contribution des MZp à l’hyperglobulinémie chez ces individus. Dans un premier temps, nos résultats démontrent que les MZp d’individus non infectés possèdent un important phénotype Breg caractérisé par l’expression des molécules régulatrices NR4As, CD83, CD39, CD73 et l’IL-10. Les MZp ont également une fonction régulatrice impliquant CD83 et PD-L1. Dans un deuxième temps, nos résultats démontrent que dans le contexte du VIH-1, ce potentiel est complètement altéré vu la diminution d’expression de ces molécules et par la perte de la fonction régulatrice, et qui est directement affectée par un excès de BAFF. Enfin, nous démontrons que les MZp des individus infectés ont un profil associé à l’épuisement et que les gènes impliqués dans l’activation menant à la production d’anticorps sont augmentés, au détriment de ceux associés à la régulation. De façon intéressante, les MZp provenant du sang d’individus infectés expriment à la hausse des transcrits de gènes IGHV impliqués dans la génération d’anticorps neutralisants du VIH-1. De plus, nous démontrons que la quantité et la qualité des IgG spécifiques au virus sont en lien avec le statut de progression de l’infection et le niveau des taux de BAFF qui y est associés. Ainsi, basé sur nos résultats, il serait possible d’envisager une étude avec des avenues thérapeutiques existantes, ciblant BAFF ou l’expression des NR4As, pour tenter de diminuer les niveaux de BAFF ou restaurer le potentiel Breg des MZp respectivement. De telles avenues, en combinaison avec ART, pourraient être intéressantes dans le but de diminuer l’inflammation chronique et restaurer l’immunocompétence chez ces individus. / Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased life quality and longevity of HIV-infected individuals. However, chronic inflammation persists and is associated with increased B-cell activating factor (BAFF). BAFF is a key survival and differentiation factor for B-cells, especially for marginal zone B-cells (MZ). MZ are innate-like B-cells that are known for their quick antibody responses and polyreactive B-cell receptor (BCR). In the context of HIV-1 infection, BAFF is found in excess in the blood of infected individuals and is associated with the dysregulation of the B-cell compartment, hyperglobulinemia, breach of tolerance and autoimmune manifestations. We reported an increase in the frequency of precursor-like MZ (MZp) B-cells in the blood of HIV-infected individuals. Interestingly, these MZp possess a phenotype that is similar to certain Breg populations identified in human. The objective of this work is to first characterize the Breg potential of MZp from HIV-uninfected individuals by RNAseq analyses and flow cytometry, and second to study the impact of HIV-1 infection and excess BAFF on the dysregulation of the Breg potential of MZp from blood samples of individuals from the primo-infection (PHI) cohort of the FRQS. Our third objective is to study the impact of HIV-infection and excess BAFF on HIV-1 specific antibodies and better understand the contribution of MZp to hyperglobulinemia in HIV-1 infected individuals. Our results showed that MZp from HIV-uninfected individuals possess a stong Breg phenotype characterized by high expression of regulatory molecules such as NR4As, CD83, CD39, CD73 and IL-10. They also have an important Breg function that involves CD83 and PD-L1. We also demonstrate that HIV-1 infection impairs the Breg potential of MZp by downregulating the expression of regulatory markers and by altering their function, which high BAFF levels can directly affect. Also, MZp from HIV-infected individuals present an exhausted profile and an increased expression of genes involved in immunoglobulin (Ig) production. Interestingly, MZp from the blood of HIV-infected individuals show increased expression of IGHV gene transcripts associated with broadly neutralizing antibodies. We find that the quantity and quality of HIV-Env specific IgG is linked with disease progression status and associated levels of BAFF. Our results suggest that existing therapeutic strategies targeting BAFF or NR4As expression could be contemplated in order to try reducing BAFF levels or for restoring Breg potential, respectively. As such, such avenues could be envisaged as adjunct to ART to lower the inflammatory burden and restore immune competence of HIV-infected individuals.

No description available.

Les anomalies phénotypiques et fonctionnelles des lymphocytes B (LB) sont typiques d'une infection au VIH et se traduisent principalement par une activation polyclonale, une perte de la mémoire immunitaire ainsi qu'une réponse humorale déficiente et des phénomènes auto-immunitaires souvent précurseurs de lymphomes B. Ces anomalies se retrouvent principalement chez les patients lors de la phase chronique de la maladie et semblent être reliées en partie au niveau de la charge virale ainsi qu'à un compartiment de lymphocytes T CD4+ altéré. Cependant, quoique controversé, des éléments d’activation polyclonale ont également été observés chez les non-progresseurs à long terme (LTNPs) qui présentent une charge virale faible et un compartiment T CD4+ semblable aux individus séronégatifs. Ainsi, les objectifs principaux de cette étude sont 1) d’établir une chronologie des anomalies du compartiment des cellules B chez des individus infectés par le VIH qui ont une progression différente de la maladie (PHI normaux, rapides, sains et LTNP). 2) corréler les niveaux sériques du stimulateur de lymphocytes B (BLyS), un facteur de croissance des cellules B, avec les phénotypes observés chez ces mêmes patients. L’hyperglobulinémie, les niveaux sériques de BLyS et d’auto-anticorps ont été mesuré longitudinalement chez une cohorte d’individus en primo-infection (PHI) avec des progressions différentes de la maladie (rapides et normaux), LTNP et sujets sains. Nos résultats démontrent que l’activation polyclonale des LB survient indépendamment de la vitesse de progression et persiste chez les LTNP ou malgré une thérapie antirétrovirale efficace chez les progresseurs rapides. Des niveaux élevés de BLyS dans le sérum des progresseurs rapides corrèlent avec des fréquences altérées de monocytes et cellules dendritiques, suggérant un rôle de celles-ci dans l’atteinte du compartiment des cellules B. / B lymphocyte abnormalities are an important consequence of HIV infection, where both polyclonal activation and loss of B cell memory and humoral immunity have been described, and often evolve towards rheumatic-like autoimmunity and lymphoma. Although these abnormalities are prevalent in chronically infected patients, polyclonal B cell activation is also reported in patients with primary HIV-infection (PHI), who already present signs of defective humoral immunity. Although controversial, elements of B cell dysregulation have been reported in long term non progressor (LTNP) patients, even though they bear low viral loads and present a relatively "normal" CD4+ T cell compartment, suggesting that other factors are involved. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to 1) establish a timeline for specific B cell abnormalities in HIV-infected patients with different rates of disease progression (PHI normal and fast progressors, LTNP), and controls 2) to correlate serum levels of the B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) a B cell growth factor, among these patients and controls. Thus we have longitudinally assessed hyperglobulinemia, auto-antibody and soluble BLyS levels in the serum of subjects undergoing primary HIV infection (PHI) with different rates of disease progression; rapid and normal progressors, long term non-progressors (LTNPs), and healthy donors. Here, we report that B cell polyclonal activation occurs independently of the rate of disease progression, with hypergammaglobulinemia persisting beyond successful therapy in rapid progressors and despite non-progressing clinical disease in LTNPs. High levels of BLyS in the serum of PHI rapid progressors correlate with altered blood monocyte and dendritic cell frequencies suggesting their contribution in triggering B cell dysregulations.