The Interplay between CD27dull and CD27bright B Cells Ensures the Flexibility, Stability, and Resilience of Human B Cell Memory

Summary: Memory B cells (MBCs) epitomize the adaptation of the immune system to the environment. We identify two MBC subsets in peripheral blood, CD27dull and CD27bright MBCs, whose frequency changes with age. Heavy chain variable region (VH) usage, somatic mutation frequency replacement-to-silent ratio, and CDR3 property changes, reflecting consecutive selection of highly antigen-specific, low cross-reactive antibody variants, all demonstrate that CD27dull and CD27bright MBCs represent sequential MBC developmental stages, and stringent antigen-driven pressure selects CD27dull into the CD27bright MBC pool. Dynamics of human MBCs are exploited in pregnancy, when 50% of maternal MBCs are lost and CD27dull MBCs transit to the more differentiated CD27bright stage. In the postpartum period, the maternal MBC pool is replenished by the expansion of persistent CD27dull clones. Thus, the stability and flexibility of human B cell memory is ensured by CD27dull MBCs that expand and differentiate in response to change. : Grimsholm et al. show that CD27dull and CD27bright represent sequential MBC developmental stages. T cell- and germinal center (GC)-independent CD27dull MBCs are the plastic source of strongly selected and GC-dependent CD27bright MBCs. CD27dull MBCs, able to expand and differentiate in response to change, ensure stability and flexibility of human B cell memory. Keywords: memory B cells, pregnancy, immunological memory, CD27, VH repertoire, immunodeficiency, aging, spleen, vaccine, germinal cente

Functionally specialized human CD4+ T-cell subsets express physicochemically distinct TCRs

The organizational integrity of the adaptive immune system is determined by functionally discrete subsets of CD4+ T cells, but it has remained unclear to what extent lineage choice is influenced by clonotypically expressed T-cell receptors (TCRs). To address this issue, we used a high-throughput approach to profile the αβ TCR repertoires of human naive and effector/memory CD4+ T-cell subsets, irrespective of antigen specificity. Highly conserved physicochemical and recombinatorial features were encoded on a subset-specific basis in the effector/memory compartment. Clonal tracking further identified forbidden and permitted transition pathways, mapping effector/memory subsets related by interconversion or ontogeny. Public sequences were largely confined to particular effector/memory subsets, including regulatory T cells (Tregs), which also displayed hardwired repertoire features in the naive compartment. Accordingly, these cumulative repertoire portraits establish a link between clonotype fate decisions in the complex world of CD4+ T cells and the intrinsic properties of somatically rearranged TCRs

Comparative Analysis of B-Cell Receptor Repertoires Induced by Live Yellow Fever Vaccine in Young and Middle-Age Donors

Age-related changes can significantly alter the state of adaptive immune system and often lead to attenuated response to novel pathogens and vaccination. In present study we employed 5′RACE UMI-based full length and nearly error-free immunoglobulin profiling to compare plasma cell antibody repertoires in young (19–26 years) and middle-age (45–58 years) individuals vaccinated with a live yellow fever vaccine, modeling a newly encountered pathogen. Our analysis has revealed age-related differences in the responding antibody repertoire ranging from distinct IGH CDR3 repertoire properties to differences in somatic hypermutation intensity and efficiency and antibody lineage tree structure. Overall, our findings suggest that younger individuals respond with a more diverse antibody repertoire and employ a more efficient somatic hypermutation process than elder individuals in response to a newly encountered pathogen

Two subsets of stem-like CD8+ memory T cell progenitors with distinct fate commitments in humans

T cell memory relies on the generation of antigen-specific progenitors with stem-like properties. However, the identity of these progenitors has remained unclear, precluding a full understanding of the differentiation trajectories that underpin the heterogeneity of antigen-experienced T cells. We used a systematic approach guided by single-cell RNA-sequencing data to map the organizational structure of the human CD8+ memory T cell pool under physiological conditions. We identified two previously unrecognized subsets of clonally, epigenetically, functionally, phenotypically and transcriptionally distinct stem-like CD8+ memory T cells. Progenitors lacking the inhibitory receptors programmed death-1 (PD-1) and T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) were committed to a functional lineage, whereas progenitors expressing PD-1 and TIGIT were committed to a dysfunctional, exhausted-like lineage. Collectively, these data reveal the existence of parallel differentiation programs in the human CD8+ memory T cell pool, with potentially broad implications for the development of immunotherapies and vaccines