Inhalational exposure to crystalline silica is linked to several debilitating systemic autoimmune diseases characterized by a prominent humoral immune component, but the mechanisms by which silica induces autoantibodies is poorly understood. To better understand how silica lung exposure breaks B cell tolerance and unleashes autoreactive B cells, we exposed both wildtype mice of healthy C57BL/6 and lupus-prone BXSB, MRL, and NZB strains and mice carrying an autoantibody transgene on each of these backgrounds to instilled silica or vehicle and monitored lung injury, autoimmunity, and B cell fate. Silica exposure induced lung damage and pulmonary lymphoid aggregates in all strains, including in genetically diverse backgrounds and in autoantibody transgenic models. In wildtype mice strain differences were observed in specificity of autoantibodies and site of enhanced autoantibody production, consistent with genetic modulation of the autoimmune response to silica. The unique autoantibody transgene reporter system permitted the in vivo fate of autoreactive B cells and tolerance mechanisms to be tracked directly, and demonstrated the presence of transgenic B cells and antibody in pulmonary lymphoid aggregates and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, respectively, as well as in spleen and serum. Nonetheless, B cell enumeration and transgenic antibody quantitation indicated that B cell deletion and anergy were intact in the different genetic backgrounds. Thus, silica exposure sufficient to induce substantial lung immunopathology did not overtly disrupt central B cell tolerance, even when superimposed on autoimmune genetic susceptibility. This suggests that silica exposure subverts tolerance at alternative checkpoints, such as regulatory cells or follicle entry, or requires additional interactions or co-exposures to induce loss of tolerance. This possibility is supported by results of differentiation assays that demonstrated transgenic autoantibodies in supernatants of Toll-like receptor (TLR)7/TLR9-stimulated splenocytes harvested from silica-exposed, but not vehicle-exposed, C57BL/6 mice. This suggests that lung injury induced by silica exposure has systemic effects that subtly alter autoreactive B cell regulation, possibly modulating B cell anergy, and that can be unmasked by superimposed exposure to TLR ligands or other immunostimulants.
Premature mortality trends in the United States are alarming, and years of life lost are mainly attributable to substance-related deaths and suicide. Suicide risk is significantly elevated among those with substance use and substance use disorder, even after adjusting for co-occurring mental health disorders and other social determinants of suicide risk. Potential mechanisms underlying these associations include the acute intoxication effects of substances on disinhibition, impulsivity, aggression, and psychosis; overlapping social and medical risk factors associated with both substance use disorder and suicide risk; and possibly overlapping genetic determinants in stress response circuitry and neurotransmitter functioning. Evidence-based treatments for substance use disorder (both medication interventions and psychosocial treatments) are effective in reducing substance use and suicide risk. Further development of universal suicide risk screening protocols and prevention training and education is especially important for the person at risk for using substances. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2020;50(4):158–162.]
A subset of autoimmune diseases result from autoantibodies targeting epitopes on matrix collagen. The most extensively studied are anti-glomerular basement membrane glomerulonephritis (or its systemic counterpart Goodpasture’s disease) that destroys kidneys and lungs, and rheumatoid arthritis that leads to disabling arthritis. Autoantibodies in these disorders bind evolutionarily conserved conformational epitopes on the noncollagenous domain 1 (NC1) of the alpha3 chain of type IV [alpha3(IV)NC1] collagen in glomerular and alveolar basement membranes, and on native or citrullinated type II collagen (CII) in joint cartilage, respectively. The genetic origins of pathogenic anti-collagen B cells in these diseases is unknown, but observations from murine models raise the possibility that they overlap despite distinct in vivo immunopathologies. Monoclonal autoantibodies isolated from mice immunized with alpha3(IV)NC1 collagen or CII show a biased use of Ig light chains (LC) encoded by genes of the IGKV3 subgroup (previously Vk21 family), paired with diverse Ig heavy chains. To further explore this relationship and determine if a single murine IGKV3 LC independently predisposes to both anti-collagen responses, we generated a novel transgenic (Tg) C57BL/6 mouse that expresses a productively rearranged IGKV3-encoded LC, termed mLCV3-Tg, in conjunction with endogenously rearranged Ig heavy chains. Tg mice are also genetically deficient in endogenous kappa chains to permit tracking of the mLCV3 transgene. We show that mLCV3-Tg mice are susceptible to humoral autoimmunity against both collagen chains. Anti-alpha3(IV)NC1 collagen, but not anti-CII, mLCV3-encoded Ig are detected in serum of unmanipulated Tg mice, while Toll-like receptor ligands induce secretion of mLCV3-Tg autoantibodies of both collagen specificities from splenocytes ex vivo. This indicates developmental survival of mLCV3-Tg B cells reactive with each antigen, and is consistent with production of the two anti-collagen autoIg from distinct B cell populations. Reduced B cell numbers, low serum Ig kappa levels, low cell surface Ig kappa density, and abundant endogenous lambda chain expression suggest that subsets of IGKV3-encoded B cells are regulated in vivo by mechanisms that include deletion, anergy, and LC editing. These results support the notion that murine IGKV3 LCs contribute structural fitness to antigen binding sites that support diverse anti-collagen autoimmune responses, that these responses are regulated in vivo, and that these cells can nonetheless readily escape immune regulation.
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