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Levinson M, Khass M, Burrows PD, Schroeder HW. Replacement of TCR Dβ With Immunoglobulin D H DSP2.3 Imposes a Tyrosine-Enriched TCR Repertoire and Adversely Affects T Cell Development. Front Immunol 2020; 11:573413. [PMID: 33133088 PMCID: PMC7550431 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.573413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Enrichment for tyrosine in immunoglobulin CDR-H3 is due in large part to natural selection of germline immunoglobulin DH sequence. We have previously shown that when DH sequence is modified to reduce the contribution of tyrosine codons, epitope recognition is altered and B cell development, antibody production, autoantibody production, and morbidity and mortality following pathogen challenge are adversely affected. TCRβ diversity (Dβ) gene segment sequences are even more highly conserved than DH, with trout Dβ1 identical to human and mouse Dβ1. We hypothesized that natural selection of Dβ sequence also shapes CDR-B3 diversity and influences T cell development and T cell function. To test this, we used a mouse strain that lacked Dβ2 and contained a novel Dβ1 allele (DβYTL) that replaces Dβ1 with an immunoglobulin DH, DSP2.3. Unlike Dβ1, wherein glycine predominates in all three reading frames (RFs), in DSP2.3 there is enrichment for tyrosine in RF1, threonine in RF2, and leucine in RF3. Mature T cells using DβYTL expressed TCRs enriched at particular CDR-B3 positions for tyrosine but depleted of leucine. Changing Dβ sequence altered thymocyte and peripheral T cell numbers and the T cell response to an ovalbumin immunodominant epitope. The differences in tyrosine content might explain, at least in part, why TCRs are more polyspecific and of lower affinity for their cognate antigens than their immunoglobulin counterparts.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Complementarity Determining Regions
- Genes, Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain
- Genes, T-Cell Receptor beta
- Immunization
- Immunodominant Epitopes
- Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/genetics
- Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/metabolism
- Lymphocyte Activation
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Knockout
- Ovalbumin/administration & dosage
- Ovalbumin/immunology
- Phenotype
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta/metabolism
- T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
- Thymocytes/immunology
- Thymocytes/metabolism
- Tyrosine
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Levinson
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Mohamed Khass
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Division of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Peter D. Burrows
- Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Harry W. Schroeder
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
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Cohn M. Somatic diversification of the B cell repertoire requires two cell subsets. Scand J Immunol 2018; 87. [DOI: 10.1111/sji.12640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/30/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Cohn
- Conceptual Immunology Group; The Salk Institute; La Jolla CA USA
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3
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Cohn M. Challenging the Tritope Model of T cell receptor structure-function relationships with classical data on 'super' and 'allo-MHC' antigens. Scand J Immunol 2013; 78:313-24. [PMID: 23809024 DOI: 10.1111/sji.12092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2013] [Accepted: 06/24/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The response of the immune system to allo-MHC-encoded antigens and Mls 'superantigens' has been experimentally analysed in detail, but the data have not been coupled to a theoretical framework. It should therefore be instructive to see how well the newly proposed Tritope Model of TCR structure-function relationships deals with the signalling interactions between the TCR and the above antigens. We will pay heed to William Bateson's admonition, 'treasure the exceptions', by showing how a meaningful theory interrogates the data with the same validity that the data interrogate the theory. The concordances, as well as the contradictions, with the Tritope Model are a test of its heuristic value.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Cohn
- Conceptual Immunology Group, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
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Vale AM, Kapoor P, Skibinski GA, Elgavish A, Mahmoud TI, Zemlin C, Zemlin M, Burrows PD, Nobrega A, Kearney JF, Briles DE, Schroeder HW. The link between antibodies to OxLDL and natural protection against pneumococci depends on D(H) gene conservation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 210:875-90. [PMID: 23589567 PMCID: PMC3646500 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20121861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Germline DH sequences are required for the generation of natural antibodies reactive to bacterial phosphorylcholine but not for those reactive to self-antigen. Selection and physiological production of protective natural antibodies (NAbs) have been associated with exposure to endogenous antigens. The extent to which this association depends on germline NAb sequence is uncertain. Here we show that alterations in germline DH sequence can sever the association between the production of self-reactive NAbs and NAbs that afford protection against a pathogen. In unmanipulated hosts, the availability of the evolutionarily conserved DFL16.1 gene segment sequence profoundly affected the serum levels of NAbs against bacterial phosphorylcholine but not oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Mice with partially altered DFL16.1 sequence could use N nucleotides to recreate the amino acid sequence associated with the classical protective T15 idiotype–positive NAbs, whereas those without DFL16.1 could not. DFL16.1 gene–deficient mice proved more susceptible to challenge with live Streptococcus pneumoniae. Our findings indicate that although production of self-reactive NAbs can be independent of germline DH sequence, their capacity to provide protection against pathogens cannot. The potential relevance of these findings for the rational design of vaccines is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre M Vale
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
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5
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What is so special about thinking; after all, we all do it! Exp Mol Pathol 2012; 93:354-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.yexmp.2012.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2012] [Accepted: 08/17/2012] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Tsakou E, Agathangelidis A, Agathagelidis A, Boudjoghra M, Raff T, Dagklis A, Chatzouli M, Smilevska T, Bourikas G, Merle-Beral H, Manioudaki-Kavallieratou E, Anagnostopoulos A, Brüggemann M, Davi F, Stamatopoulos K, Belessi C. Partial versus productive immunoglobulin heavy locus rearrangements in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: implications for B-cell receptor stereotypy. Mol Med 2012; 18:138-45. [PMID: 21968789 DOI: 10.2119/molmed.2011.00216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2011] [Accepted: 09/26/2011] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The frequent occurrence of stereotyped heavy complementarity-determining region 3 (VH CDR3) sequences among unrelated cases with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is widely taken as evidence for antigen selection. Stereotyped VH CDR3 sequences are often defined by the selective association of certain immunoglobulin heavy diversity (IGHD) genes in specific reading frames with certain immunoglobulin heavy joining (IGHJ ) genes. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying VH CDR3 restrictions and also determine the developmental stage when restrictions in VH CDR3 are imposed, we analyzed partial IGHD-IGHJ rearrangements (D-J) in 829 CLL cases and compared the productively rearranged D-J joints (that is, in-frame junctions without junctional stop codons) to (a) the productive immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV )-IGHD-IGHJ rearrangements (V-D-J) from the same cases and (b) 174 D-J rearrangements from 160 precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases (pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL]). Partial D-J rearrangements were detected in 272/829 CLL cases (32.8%). Sequence analysis was feasible in 238 of 272 D-J rearrangements; 198 of 238 (83.2%) were productively rearranged. The D-J joints in CLL did not differ significantly from those in pre-B ALL, except for higher frequency of the IGHD7-27 and IGHJ6 genes in the latter. Among CLL carrying productively rearranged D-J, comparison of the IGHD gene repertoire in productive V-D-J versus D-J revealed the following: (a) overuse of IGHD reading frames encoding hydrophilic peptides among V-D-J and (b) selection of the IGHD3-3 and IGHD6-19 genes in V-D-J junctions. These results document that the IGHD and IGHJ gene biases in the CLL expressed VH CDR3 repertoire are not stochastic but are directed by selection operating at the immunoglobulin protein level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia Tsakou
- Hematology Department, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
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7
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Cohn M. Ten experiments that would make a difference in understanding immune mechanisms. Cell Mol Life Sci 2012; 69:405-12. [PMID: 22042272 PMCID: PMC11115027 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-011-0869-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2011] [Revised: 09/28/2011] [Accepted: 10/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Jacques Monod used to say, "Never trust an experiment that is not supported by a good theory." Theory or conceptualization permits us to put order or structure into a vast amount of data in a way that increases understanding. Validly competing theories are most useful when they make testably disprovable predictions. Illustrating the theory-experiment interaction is the goal of this exercise. Stated bleakly, the answers derived from the theory-based experiments described here would impact dramatically on how we understand immune behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melvin Cohn
- Conceptual Immunology Group, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA.
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Abstract
This essay provides an analysis of the inadequacy of the current view of restrictive recognition of peptide by the T-cell antigen receptor. A competing model is developed, and the experimental evidence for the prevailing model is reinterpreted in the new framework. The goal is to contrast the two models with respect to their consistency, coverage of the data, explanatory power, and predictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melvin Cohn
- Conceptual Immunology Group, The Salk Institute For Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
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Schroeder HW, Zemlin M, Khass M, Nguyen HH, Schelonka RL. Genetic control of DH reading frame and its effect on B-cell development and antigen-specifc antibody production. Crit Rev Immunol 2010; 30:327-44. [PMID: 20666706 DOI: 10.1615/critrevimmunol.v30.i4.20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The power of the adaptive immune system to identify novel antigens depends on the ability of lymphocytes to create antigen receptors with diverse antigen-binding sites. For immunoglobulins, CDR (complementarity-determining region)-H3 lies at the center of the antigen-binding site, where it often plays a key role in antigen binding. It is created de novo by VDJ rearrangement and is thus the focus for rearrangement-dependent diversity. CDR-H3 is biased for the inclusion of tyrosine. In seeking to identify the mechanisms controlling CDR-H3 amino acid content, we observed that the coding sequence of DH gene segments demonstrate conservation of reading frame (RF)-specific sequence motifs, with RF1 enriched for tyrosine and depleted of hydrophobic and charged amino acids. Use of DH RF1 in functional VDJ transcripts is preferred from the earliest stages of B-cell development, "pushing" CDR-H3 to include specific categories of tyrosine-enriched antigen-binding sites. With development and maturation, the composition of the CDR-H3 repertoire appears to be pulled into a more refined specific range. Forcing the use of alternative DH RFs by means of gene targeting alters the expressed repertoire, enriching alternative sequence categories. This change in the repertoire variably affects antibody production and the development of specific B-cell subsets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harry W Schroeder
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-2182, USA.
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Zemlin M, Schelonka RL, Ippolito GC, Zemlin C, Zhuang Y, Gartland GL, Nitschke L, Pelkonen J, Rajewsky K, Schroeder HW. Regulation of repertoire development through genetic control of DH reading frame preference. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2009; 181:8416-24. [PMID: 19050259 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.181.12.8416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In jawed vertebrates most expressed Ig H chains use only one of six possible D(H) reading frames. Reading frame (RF)1, the preferred reading frame, tends to encode tyrosine and glycine, whereas the other five RFs tend to be enriched for either hydrophobic or charged amino acids. Mechanisms proposed to favor use of RF1 include a preference for deletion over inversion that discourages use of inverted RF1, RF2, and RF3; sequence homology between the 5' terminus of the J(H) and the 3' terminus of the D(H) that promotes rearrangement into RF1; an ATG start site upstream of RF2 that permits production of a truncated Dmicro protein; stop codons in RF3; and, following surface expression of IgM, somatic, presumably Ag receptor-based selection favoring B cells expressing Igs with tyrosine- and glycine-enriched CDR-H3s. By creating an IgH allele limited to the use of a single, frameshifted DFL16.1 D(H) gene segment, we tested the relative contribution of these mechanisms in determining reading frame preference. Dmicro-mediated suppression via an allelic exclusion-like mechanism dominated over somatic selection in determining the composition of the CDR-H3 repertoire. Evidence of somatic selection for RF1-encoded tyrosine in CDR-H3 was observed, but only among the minority of recirculating, mature B cells that use D(H) in RF1. These observations underscore the extent to which the sequence of the D(H) acts to delimit the diversity of the Ab repertoire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Zemlin
- Department of Pediatrics, Philipps Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
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11
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Schelonka RL, Zemlin M, Kobayashi R, Ippolito GC, Zhuang Y, Gartland GL, Szalai A, Fujihashi K, Rajewsky K, Schroeder HW. Preferential use of DH reading frame 2 alters B cell development and antigen-specific antibody production. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2009; 181:8409-15. [PMID: 19050258 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.181.12.8409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
All jawed vertebrates limit use of D(H) reading frames (RFs) that are enriched for hydrophobic amino acids. In BALB/c mice, DFL16.1 RF2 encodes valine and isoleucine. To test whether increased use of RF2 affects B cell function, we examined B cell development and Ab production in mice with an IgH allele (DeltaD-DmicroFS) limited to use of a single, frameshifted DFL61.1 gene segment. We compared the results of these studies to wild-type mice, as well as those previously obtained in mice limited to use of either a single normal D(H) or a single inverted D(H) that forces use of arginine in CDR-H3. All three of the mouse strains limited to a single D(H) produced fewer immature B cells than wild type. However, whereas mice limited to a single normal D(H) achieved normal B cell numbers in the periphery, mice forced to preferentially use RF2 had reduced numbers of mature B cells in the spleen and bone marrow, mirroring the pattern previously observed in mice enriched for charged CDR-H3s. There were two exceptions. B cells in the mice using RF2 normally populated the marginal zone and peritoneal cavity, whereas mice using inverted RF1 had increased numbers of marginal zone B cells and decreased numbers of B1a cells. When challenged with several T-dependent or T-independent Ags, Ag-specific Ab titers in the mice forced to use RF2 were altered. These findings indicate that B cell development and Ag-specific Ab production can be heavily influenced by the global amino acid content of the CDR-H3 repertoire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Schelonka
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
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