Murine B Cell Response to TLR7 Ligands Depends on an IFN-  Feedback Loop

Type I IFNs play an important, yet poorly characterized, role in systemic lupus erythematosus. To better understand the interplay between type I IFNs and the activation of autoreactive B cells, we evaluated the effect of type I IFN receptor (IFNAR) deficiency in murine B cell responses to common TLR...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Green, Nathaniel M., Laws, Amy, Kiefer, Kerstin, Busconi, Liliana, Kim, You-Me, Brinkmann, Melanie M., Trail, Erin Hodges, Yasuda, Kei, Christensen, Sean R., Shlomchik, Mark J., Vogel, Stefanie, Connor, John H., Ploegh, Hidde, Eilat, Dan, Rifkin, Ian R., van Seventer, Jean Maguire, Marshak-Rothstein, Ann
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Association of Immunologists, Inc. 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85070
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1090-6071
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Summary:Type I IFNs play an important, yet poorly characterized, role in systemic lupus erythematosus. To better understand the interplay between type I IFNs and the activation of autoreactive B cells, we evaluated the effect of type I IFN receptor (IFNAR) deficiency in murine B cell responses to common TLR ligands. In comparison to wild-type B cells, TLR7-stimulated IFNAR−/− B cells proliferated significantly less well and did not up-regulate costimulatory molecules. By contrast, IFNAR1−/− B cells did not produce cytokines, but did proliferate and up-regulate activation markers in response to other TLR ligands. These defects were not due to a difference in the distribution of B cell populations or a failure to produce a soluble factor other than a type I IFN. Instead, the compromised response pattern reflected the disruption of an IFN-β feedback loop and constitutively low expression of TLR7 in the IFNAR1−/− B cells. These results highlight subtle differences in the IFN dependence of TLR7 responses compared with other TLR-mediated B cell responses.