Hippo pathway kinase Mst1 Is required for long-lived humoral immunity
- Author(s)
- Yazdchi, SB; Witalis, M; Meli, AP; Leung, J; Li, X; Panneton, V; Chang, J; Li, J; Nutt, SL; Johnson, RL; Lim, DS; Gu, H; King, IL; Suh, WK;
- Details
- Publication Year 2019-01,Volume 202,Issue #1,Page 69-78
- Journal Title
- Journal of Immunology
- Publication Type
- Journal Article
- Abstract
- The protein kinase Mst1 is a key component of the evolutionarily conserved Hippo pathway that regulates cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and migration. In humans, Mst1 deficiency causes primary immunodeficiency. Patients with MST1-null mutations show progressive loss of naive T cells but, paradoxically, mildly elevated serum Ab titers. Nonetheless, the role of Mst1 in humoral immunity remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that early T cell-dependent IgG1 responses in young adult Mst1-deficient mice were largely intact with signs of impaired affinity maturation. However, the established Ag-specific IgG1 titers in Mst1-deficient mice decayed more readily because of a loss of Ag-specific but not the overall bone marrow plasma cells. Despite the impaired affinity and longevity of Ag-specific Abs, Mst1-deficient mice produced plasma cells displaying apparently normal maturation markers with intact migratory and secretory capacities. Intriguingly, in immunized Mst1-deficient mice, T follicular helper cells were hyperactive, expressing higher levels of IL-21, IL-4, and surface CD40L. Accordingly, germinal center B cells progressed more rapidly into the plasma cell lineage, presumably forgoing rigorous affinity maturation processes. Importantly, Mst1-deficient mice had elevated levels of CD138(+)Blimp1(+) splenic plasma cell populations, yet the size of the bone marrow plasma cell population remained normal. Thus, overproduced low-affinity plasma cells from dysregulated germinal centers seem to underlie humoral immune defects in Mst1-deficiency. Our findings imply that vaccination of Mst1-deficient human patients, even at the early stage of life, may fail to establish long-lived high-affinity humoral immunity and that prophylactic Ab replacement therapy can be beneficial to the patients.
- Publisher
- ASI
- Research Division(s)
- Molecular Immunology
- PubMed ID
- 30478091
- Publisher's Version
- https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1701407
- NHMRC Grants
- NHMRC/1054925, NHMRC/1058238,
- Terms of Use/Rights Notice
- Refer to copyright notice on published article.
Creation Date: 2018-12-18 02:54:33
Last Modified: 2019-01-15 09:12:17