Background: The posttranslational modification of cellular macromolecules by glycosylation is considered to contribute to disease pathogenesis in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. In a subgroup of patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), the occurrence of such complications is associated with an expansion of naïve-like CD21 B cells during a chronic type 1 immune activation. The glycosylation pattern of B cells in CVID patients has not been addressed to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe altered wiring of signaling pathways downstream of antigen receptors of T and B cells contributes to the dysregulation of the adaptive immune system, potentially causing immunodeficiency and autoimmunity. In humans, the investigation of such complex systems benefits from nature's experiments in patients with genetically defined primary immunodeficiencies. Disturbed B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling in a subgroup of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients with immune dysregulation and expanded T-betCD21 B cells in peripheral blood has been previously reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccumulation of human CD21 B cells in peripheral blood is a hallmark of chronic activation of the adaptive immune system in certain infections and autoimmune disorders. The molecular pathways underpinning the development, function, and fate of these CD21 B cells remain incompletely characterized. Here, combined transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses supported a prominent role for the transcription factor T-bet in the transcriptional regulation of these T-betCD21 B cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman CD21 B cells are expanded in autoimmune (AI) diseases and display a unique phenotype with high expression of co-stimulatory molecules, compatible with a potential role as antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Thus, we addressed the co-stimulatory capacity of naïve-like, IgM-memory, switched memory and CD27IgD memory CD21 B cells in allogenic co-cultures with CD4 T cells. CD21 B cells of patients with AI disorders expressed high levels of not only CD86, CD80, and HLA-DR (memory B cells) but also PD-L1 and efficiently co-stimulated CD4 T cells of healthy donors (HD), as measured by upregulation of CD25, CD69, inducible co-stimulator (ICOS), and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and induction of cytokines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypomorphic mutations in the gene encoding Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) may result in milder phenotypes and delayed diagnosis of B-cell related immunodeficiencies due to residual BTK function. Newborn screening for kappa-deleting-recombination-excision circles (KRECs) reliably identifies classical X-linked agammaglobulinaemia (XLA) patients with profound B-cell lymphopenia at birth but has not been evaluated in patients with residual BTK function. We aimed to evaluate clinical findings, BTK function and KREC copy numbers in three patients with BTK mutations presenting with impaired polysaccharide responsiveness without agammaglobulinaemia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Over a third of patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) suffer from secondary complications like inflammatory organ disease, autoimmune manifestations, or lymphoproliferation contributing to increased morbidity and mortality in affected patients. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have emerging roles in setting the milieu for physiological, but also pathological, immune responses and inflammation. We therefore sought to correlate the recently identified disturbed homeostasis of ILCs with alterations of the adaptive immune system in complex CVID patients (CVIDc).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF