SUMMARY B lymphocytes have critical roles as positive and negative regulators of immunity. Their inhibitory function has so far been associated primarily with interleukin (IL)-10 because B cell-derived IL-10 can protect against autoimmune disease and increase susceptibility to pathogens1,2. Here, we identify IL-35-producing B cells as novel key players in the negative regulation of immunity. Mice in which only B cells did not express IL-35 lost their ability to recover from the T cell-mediated demyelinating autoimmune disease experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In contrast, these mice displayed a strikingly improved resistance to infection with the intracellular bacterial pathogen Salmonella typhimurium, as shown by their superior containment of the bacterial growth and their prolonged survival both after primary infection, and upon secondary challenge after vaccination, compared to control mice. The increased immunity found in mice lacking IL-35 production by B cells was associated with a higher activation of macrophages and inflammatory T cells, as well as an enhanced stimulatory function of B cells as antigen-presenting cells (APC). During Salmonella infection IL-35- and IL-10-producing B cells corresponded to two largely distinct sets of surface-IgM+CD138hiTACI+CXCR4+CD1dintTim1int plasma cells expressing the transcription factor Blimp1. During EAE CD138+ plasma cells were also the major source of B cell-derived IL-35 and IL-10. Collectively, our data unravel the importance of IL-35-producing B cells in regulation of immunity, and highlight IL-35 production by B cells as a novel therapeutic target for autoimmune and infectious diseases. More generally, this study emphasizes the central role of activated B cells, particularly plasma cells, and their production of cytokines in the regulation of immune responses in health and disease.

SummaryB lymphocytes can suppress immunity through interleukin (IL)-10 production in infectious, autoimmune, and malignant diseases. Here, we have identified a natural plasma cell subset that distinctively expresses the inhibitory receptor LAG-3 and mediates this function in vivo. These plasma cells also express the inhibitory receptors CD200, PD-L1, and PD-L2. They develop from various B cell subsets in a B cell receptor (BCR)-dependent manner independently of microbiota in naive mice. After challenge they upregulate IL-10 expression via a Toll-like receptor-driven mechanism within hours and without proliferating. This function is associated with a unique transcriptome and epigenome, including the lowest amount of DNA methylation at the Il10 locus compared to other B cell subsets. Their augmented accumulation in naive mutant mice with increased BCR signaling correlates with the inhibition of memory T cell formation and vaccine efficacy after challenge. These natural regulatory plasma cells may be of broad relevance for disease intervention.

The small guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins of the Rho family are implicated in various cell functions, including establishment and maintenance of cell polarity. Activity of Rho guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) is not only regulated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors and GTPase-activating proteins but also by guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors (GDIs). These proteins have the ability to extract Rho proteins from membranes and keep them in an inactive cytosolic complex. Here, we show that Rdi1, the sole Rho GDI of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, contributes to pseudohyphal growth and mitotic exit. Rdi1 interacts only with Cdc42, Rho1, and Rho4, and it regulates these Rho GTPases by distinct mechanisms. Binding between Rdi1 and Cdc42 as well as Rho1 is modulated by the Cdc42 effector and p21-activated kinase Cla4. After membrane extraction mediated by Rdi1, Rho4 is degraded by a novel mechanism, which includes the glycogen synthase kinase 3␤ homologue Ygk3, vacuolar proteases, and the proteasome. Together, these results indicate that Rdi1 uses distinct modes of regulation for different Rho GTPases. INTRODUCTIONSmall guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) of the Rho family control fundamental processes of cell biology common to all eukaryotes, such as morphogenesis, polarity, movement, and cell division (Jaffe and Hall, 2005). In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which encodes six Rho GTPases (Cdc42 and Rho1 to Rho5), these proteins play a pivotal role in the establishment of cell polarity (Park and Bi, 2007). Budding yeast cells undergo polarized growth during various phases of their life cycle, including budding during vegetative growth, mating between haploid cells of opposite mating types, and filamentous growth upon nutrient limitation. Although Cdc42 and Rho1 are well characterized, little is known about the other Rho proteins. Membrane association of Rho-type GTPases is essential for their function, and it depends on a C-terminal prenyl moiety and an adjacent polybasic region. Cdc42 localizes to internal membranes and the entire plasma membrane, where it clusters at sites of polarized growth, including the tips of mating projections, incipient bud sites, the tips and sides of growing buds, and the bud neck region of large-budded cells (Ziman et al., 1993;Richman et al., 2002). In addition to membranebound Cdc42, a cytoplasmic pool has been found (Ziman et al., 1993). Similar to Cdc42, Rho1 has been shown to localize at sites of polarized growth .Like other regulatory GTPases, they act as molecular switches, cycling between an active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound state and an inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound state. This activity is highly regulated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs). The exchange of GDP to GTP, and thus the activation of Cdc42, is catalyzed by GEFs. In the active GTP-bound state, Rho GTPases perform their regulatory function through a conformation-specific interaction with effector proteins. G...

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Type I IFN produced by Mtb-stimulated B cells favors macrophage polarization toward a regulatory/antiinflammatory phenotype during Mtb infection.

T lymphocytes accumulate in inflamed tissues of patients with chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs) and express pro‐inflammatory cytokines upon re‐stimulation in vitro. Further, a significant genetic linkage to MHC genes suggests that T lymphocytes play an important role in the pathogenesis of CIDs including juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). However, the functions of T lymphocytes in established disease remain elusive. Here we dissect the transcriptional and the clonal heterogeneity of synovial T lymphocytes in JIA patients by single‐cell RNA sequencing combined with T cell receptor profiling on the same cells. We identify clonally expanded subpopulations of T lymphocytes expressing genes reflecting recent activation by antigen in situ. A PD‐1+TOX+EOMES+ population of CD4+ T lymphocytes expressed immune regulatory genes and chemoattractant genes for myeloid cells. A PD‐1+TOX+BHLHE40+ population of CD4+, and a mirror population of CD8+ T lymphocytes expressed genes driving inflammation, and genes supporting B lymphocyte activation in situ. This analysis points out that multiple types of T lymphocytes have to be targeted for therapeutic regeneration of tolerance in arthritis.

B cells are usually considered primarily for their unique capacity to produce antibodies after differentiation into plasma cells. In addition to their roles as antibody-producing cells, it has become apparent during the last 10 years that B cells also perform important functions in immunity through the production of cytokines. In particular, it was shown that B cells could negatively regulate immunity through provision of interleukin (IL)-10 during autoimmune and infectious diseases in mice. Here, we review data on the suppressive functions of B cells in mice with particular emphasis on the signals controlling the acquisition of such suppressive functions by B cells, the phenotype of the B cells involved in the negative regulation of immunity, and the processes targeted by this inhibitory circuit. Finally, we discuss the possibility that human B cells might also perform similar inhibitory functions through the provision of IL-10, and review data suggesting that such B cell-mediated regulatory activities might be impaired in patients with autoimmune diseases.

Here, we review current knowledge on the B-cell subpopulations found to provide suppressive functions in mice, considering both the pathological context in which they were identified and the signals that control their induction. We discuss the phenotype of B cells that have IL-10-dependent regulatory activities in mice, which leads us to propose that antibody-secreting cells are, in some cases at least, the major source of B-cell-derived regulatory IL-10 in vivo. Anti-inflammatory cytokine production by antibody-secreting cells offers a novel mechanism for the coordination of innate and humoral immune responses.