Browsing by Author "Koegler, Mia Elizabeth"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemEmbargo
    Antigen-specific CD4+ T-B cell interplay induces a robust, polyreactive systemic immunoglobulin response to commensal bacteremia.
    (2020-03-04) Koegler, Mia Elizabeth; Geuking, Markus B.; Peters, Nathan C.; Hirota, Simon Andrew; Jenne, Craig N.
    The impact of cognate CD4+ T cell help on the systemic antibody response during commensal bacteremia was assessed in detail in this thesis. To specifically evaluate cognate T cell-B cell interactions, we utilized a genetically modified commensal E. coli strain that expressed gp61, an additional T helper epitope, in its outer membrane ompC protein (E. coli ompC_gp61). Germ-free mice that were systemically primed with E. coli ompC_gp61 produced a significantly more robust E. coli-specific antibody response than mice that received the corresponding wild-type (WT) E. coli strain. The observed antibody response to E. coli ompC_gp61 appeared to be MHC II haplotype-dependent, as this phenomenon was reproducible in C57BL/6 mice (I-Ab) but not in BALB/c mice (I-Ad and I-Ed). Furthermore, mice adoptively transferred with gp61-specific SMARTA CD4+ T cells and later challenged with E. coli ompC_gp61 produced significantly more E. coli-specific IgM than recipient mice that were primed with WT E. coli. This finding suggests that the proportion of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells present during systemic immune priming may impact on class switch recombination and IgM+ memory formation. Finally, increasing gut microbiota complexity resulted in lower E. coli-specific antibody titers compared to germ-free mice in response to E. coli ompC_gp61 priming. However, non-primed mice with a more complex gut microbiota had higher total serum antibodies than their germ-free counterparts. Collectively, these data suggest that cognate CD4+ T cell help during commensal-induced bacteremia can orchestrate a potent, commensal-specific, and polyreactive antibody response. These findings shed new light on the systemic humoral immune response to bacteremia and could potentially be exploited to develop more effective and personalized vaccine strategies.