Neutrophils utilize immunoglobulins (Igs) to clear antigen, but their role in Ig production is unknown. Here we identified neutrophils around the marginal zone (MZ) of the spleen, a B cell area specialized in T-independent Ig responses to circulating antigen. Neutrophils colonized peri-MZ areas after post-natal mucosal colonization by microbes and enhanced their B-helper function upon receiving reprogramming signals from splenic sinusoidal endothelial cells, including interleukin 10 (IL-10). Splenic neutrophils induced Ig class switching, somatic hypermutation and antibody production by activating MZ B cells through a mechanism involving the cytokines BAFF, APRIL and IL-21. Neutropenic patients had fewer and hypomutated MZ B cells and less preimmune Igs to T-independent antigens, which indicates that neutrophils generate an innate layer of antimicrobial Ig defense by interacting with MZ B cells.

Bacteria colonize the intestine shortly after birth and thereafter exert several beneficial functions, including induction of protective immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies. The distal intestine contains IgA(2), which is more resistant to bacterial proteases than is IgA(1). The mechanism by which B cells switch from IgM to IgA(2) remains unknown. We found that human intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) triggered IgA(2) class switching in B cells, including IgA(1)-expressing B cells arriving from mucosal follicles, through a CD4(+) T cell-independent pathway involving a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL). IECs released APRIL after sensing bacteria through Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and further increased APRIL production by activating dendritic cells via thymic stromal lymphopoietin. Our data indicate that bacteria elicit IgA(2) class switching by linking lamina propria B cells with IECs through a TLR-inducible signaling program requiring APRIL. Thus, mucosal vaccines should activate IECs to induce more effective IgA(2) responses.

Immunoglobulin D (IgD) is an enigmatic antibody isotype that mature B cells co-express with IgM through alternative RNA splicing. We found active T cell-dependent and T cell-independent IgM-to-IgD class switching in human upper respiratory mucosa B cells. This process required activation-induced cytidine deaminase and generated local and circulating IgD-producing plasmablasts reactive to respiratory bacteria. Circulating IgD bound to basophils through a calcium-mobilizing receptor that induced antimicrobial, opsonizing, inflammatory and B cell-stimulating factors including cathelicidin, interleukin-1, interleukin-4 and B cell-activating factor BAFF upon IgD cross-linking. By showing dysregulation of IgD class-switched B cells and IgD-armed basophils in autoinflammatory syndromes with periodic fever, our data indicate that IgD orchestrates an ancestral surveillance system at the interface between immunity and inflammation.

PSD-95 and SAP97 are scaffolding proteins that have been implicated in regulating AMPA receptor incorporation and function at synapses. Gain- and loss-of-function approaches, however, have generated conflicting results. To minimize adaptations during development and potential dominant-negative effects of overexpression, we have combined silencing of endogenous PSD-95 in mature neurons with heterologous expression of specific SAP97 or PSD-95 isoforms. We find that both PSD-95 and SAP97 contain alternative N termini expressing either double cysteines that normally are palmitoylated (alpha-isoforms) or an L27 domain (beta-isoforms). Whereas alpha-isoforms of PSD-95 and SAP97 influence AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic strength independent of activity, the effects of beta-isoforms are regulated by activity in a CaMKII-dependent manner. Importantly, the synaptic effects of the beta-isoforms are masked by the endogenous alpha-isoform of PSD-95. These results demonstrate that the different N termini of the predominant endogenous forms of PSD-95 (alpha-isoform) and SAP97 (beta-isoform) govern their role in regulating synaptic function.