BackgroundAutophagy has emerged as a critical homeostatic mechanism in T lymphocytes, influencing proliferation and differentiation. Autophagy in B cells has been less studied, but genetic deficiency causes impairment of early and late developmental stagesObjectivesTo explore the role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of human and murine lupus, a disease in which B cells are critical effectors of pathology.MethodsAutophagy was assessed using multiple techniques in NZB/W and control mice, and in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared to healthy controls. We evaluated the phenotype of the B cell compartment in Vav-Atg7−/− mice in vivo, and examined human and murine plasmablast formation following inhibition of autophagy.ResultsWe found activation of autophagy in early developmental and transitional stages of B cell development in a lupus mouse model even before disease onset, and which progressively increased with age. In human disease, again autophagy was activated compared with healthy controls, principally in naïve B cells. B cells isolated from Vav-Atg7F/F mice failed to effectively differentiate into plasma cells following stimulation in vitro. Similarly, human B cells stimulated in the presence of autophagy inhibition did not differentiate into plasmablasts.ConclusionsOur data suggest activation of autophagy is a mechanism for survival of autoreactive B cells, and also demonstrate that it is required for plasmablast differentiation, processes that induce significant cellular stress. The implication of autophagy in two major pathogenic pathways in SLE suggests the potential to use inhibition of autophagy as a novel treatment target in this frequently severe autoimmune disease.

Mature neutrophils are notoriously short-lived immune cells that cannot be genetically manipulated. Analysis of gene function therefore requires genetically modified animals, which is expensive, time-consuming, and costly in animal life. Analysis of gene function in neutrophils in a physiologically relevant context thus represents a significant problem in the field. We sought to overcome this obstruction in the field by developing a strategy for the analysis of gene function in neutrophils in a physiologically relevant context. Here, we demonstrate the functional relevance of in vitro conditional-Hoxb8 immortalized precursor-derived neutrophils. In vitro-derived neutrophils functionally resembled primary neutrophils, but critically, neutrophils generated in this way can be adoptively transferred into live animals and tracked during inflammatory responses using single-cell analysis to define functional attributes. We have validated this approach using CD11b-deficient neutrophils and replicated the key findings observed in gene-targeted animals and in naturally CD11b-deficient humans. Furthermore, we show that by retroviral transduction, one can generate stable alterations in the precursor cell lines and thus a continuous supply of functionally altered neutrophils. This novel technological advance offers for the first time the possibility of applying higher-throughput genetic modification and in vivo functional analysis to the neutrophil-lineage.

The CD11b/CD18 integrin (complement receptor 3, CR3) is a surface receptor on monocytes, neutrophils, macrophages and dendritic cells that plays a crucial role in several immunological processes including leukocyte extravasation and phagocytosis. The minor allele of a non-synonymous CR3 polymorphism (rs1143679, conversation of arginine to histidine at position 77: R77H) represents one of the strongest genetic risk factor in human systemic lupus erythematosus, with heterozygosity (77R/H) being the most common disease associated genotype. Homozygosity for the 77H allele has been reported to reduce adhesion and phagocytosis in human monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages, respectively, without affecting surface expression of CD11b. Herein we comprehensively assessed the influence of R77H on different CR3-mediated activities in monocytes, neutrophils, macrophages and dendritic cells. R77H did not alter surface expression of CD11b including its active form in any of these cell types. Using two different iC3b-coated targets we found that the uptake by heterozygous 77R/H macrophages, monocytes and neutrophils was significantly reduced compared to 77R/R cells. Allele-specific transduced immortalized macrophage cell lines demonstrated that the minor allele, 77H, was responsible for the impaired phagocytosis. R77H did not affect neutrophil adhesion, neutrophil transmigration in vivo or Toll-like receptor 7/8-mediated cytokine release by monocytes or dendritic cells with or without CR3 pre-engagement by iC3b-coated targets. Our findings demonstrate that the reduction in CR3-mediated phagocytosis associated with the 77H CD11b variant is not macrophage-restricted but demonstrable in other CR3-expressing professional phagocytic cells. The association between 77H and susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus most likely relates to impaired waste disposal, a key component of lupus pathogenesis.

Background The early components of the classical and lectin complement pathways have been shown to protect low-density lipoprotein receptor deficient mice (Ldlr−/−) from early atherogenesis. However, the role of the alternative pathway remained unknown and that was investigated in this study. Methods and Results Mice lacking factor B (Bf−/−), the initiator of the alternative pathway, were crossed with Ldlr−/− mice and studied under different pro-atherogenic conditions. There was no statistically significant difference in lipid profiles or atherosclerotic lesion development between Bf−/−.Ldlr−/− and Ldlr−/− mice fed a low-fat diet. However, in these groups administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) led to a significant increase in atherosclerosis only in Ldlr−/− and not in Bf−/−.Ldlr−/− mice, indicating that the alternative pathway is necessary for endotoxin-mediated atherogenesis. Bf−/−.Ldlr−/− mice also had significantly decreased cross-sectional aortic root lesion fraction area and reduced lesion complexity compared to Ldlr−/− animals after a 12-week period of high-fat diet, although this was also accompanied by reduced levels of serum cholesterol. Under both experimental conditions, the atherosclerotic changes in the Bf−/−.Ldlr−/− mice were accompanied by a marked reduction in complement activation in the circulation and in atherosclerotic plaques, with no statistical significant differences in IgG deposition or in the serum antibody response to oxidised LDL. Conclusions These data demonstrate that amplification of complement activation by the alternative pathway in response to LPS or high fat diet plays a pro-atherogenic role.