Summary
During immune responses, B lymphocytes clonally expand and undergo secondary diversification of their immunoglobulin (Ig) genes in germinal centers (GCs)1–4. High affinity B cells are expanded through iterative interzonal cycles of division and hypermutation in the GC dark zone (DZ) followed by migration to the GC light zone (LZ) where they are selected based on affinity to return to the DZ5–10. Here we combine a transgenic strategy to measure cell division and a photoactivatable fluorescent reporter to examine whether the extent of clonal expansion and hypermutation are regulated during interzonal GC cycles. We find that both cell division and hypermutation are directly proportional to the amount of antigen captured and presented by GC B cells to T follicular helper (TFH) cells in the LZ. Our data explain how GC B cells with the highest affinity for antigen are selectively expanded and diversified.
SummaryBroadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) against the N332 supersite of the HIV envelope (Env) trimer are the most common bnAbs induced during infection, making them promising leads for vaccine design. Wild-type Env glycoproteins lack detectable affinity for supersite-bnAb germline precursors and are therefore unsuitable immunogens to prime supersite-bnAb responses. We employed mammalian cell surface display to design stabilized Env trimers with affinity for germline-reverted precursors of PGT121-class supersite bnAbs. The trimers maintained native-like antigenicity and structure, activated PGT121 inferred-germline B cells ex vivo when multimerized on liposomes, and primed PGT121-like responses in PGT121 inferred-germline knockin mice. Design intermediates have levels of epitope modification between wild-type and germline-targeting trimers; their mutation gradient suggests sequential immunization to induce bnAbs, in which the germline-targeting prime is followed by progressively less-mutated design intermediates and, lastly, with native trimers. The vaccine design strategies described could be utilized to target other epitopes on HIV or other pathogens.
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) represent a threat to the genome because they can lead to loss of genetic information and chromosome rearrangements. The DNA repair protein p53 binding protein 1 (53BP1) protects the genome by limiting nucleolytic processing of DSBs by a mechanism that requires its phosphorylation, but whether it does so directly is not known. Here we identify Rapl-interacting factor 1 (Rif1) as an Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) phosphorylation-dependent interactor of 53BP1, and show that absence of Rif1 results in 5′-3′ DNA end resection in mice. Consistent with enhanced DNA resection, Rif1 deficiency impairs DNA repair in the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle, interferes with class switch recombination (CSR) in B lymphocytes, and leads to accumulation of chromosome DSBs.
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