Reemergence of pathogenic, autoantibody-producing B cell clones in myasthenia gravis following B cell depletion therapy
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoantibody-mediated autoimmune disorder of the neuromuscular junction. A small subset of patients (<10%) with MG, have autoantibodies targeting muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK). MuSK MG patients respond well to CD20-mediated B cell depletion therapy (BCDT); most achieve complete stable remission. However, relapse often occurs. To further understand the immunomechanisms underlying relapse, we studied autoantibody-producing B cells over the course of BCDT. We developed a fluorescently labeled antigen to enrich for MuSK-specific B cells, which was validated with a novel Nalm6 cell line engineered to express a human MuSK-specific B cell receptor. B cells (≅ 2.6 million) from 12 different samples collected from nine MuSK MG patients were screened for MuSK specificity. We successfully isolated two MuSK-specific IgG4 subclass-expressing plasmablasts from two of these patients, who were experiencing a relapse after a BCDT-induced remission. Human recombinant MuSK mAbs were then generated to validate binding specificity and characterize their molecular properties. Both mAbs were strong MuSK binders, they recognized the Ig1-like domain of MuSK, and showed pathogenic capacity when tested in an acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clustering assay. The presence of persistent clonal relatives of these MuSK-specific B cell clones was investigated through B cell receptor repertoire tracing of 63,977 unique clones derived from longitudinal samples collected from these two patients. Clonal variants were detected at multiple timepoints spanning more than five years and reemerged after BCDT-mediated remission, predating disease relapse by several months. These findings demonstrate that a reservoir of rare pathogenic MuSK autoantibody-expressing B cell clones survive BCDT and reemerge into circulation prior to manifestation of clinical relapse. Overall, this study provides both a mechanistic understanding of MuSK MG relapse and a valuable candidate biomarker for relapse prediction.Keywords: Autoantibodies; B cell depletion therapy; B cells; Muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK); Myasthenia gravis; Rituximab.
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基因水平:PCR Array、RT-PCR、PCR、单细胞测序
蛋白水平:MSD、Luminex、CBA、Elispot、Antibody Array、ELISA、Sengenics
细胞水平:细胞染色、细胞分选、细胞培养、细胞功能
组织水平:空间多组学、多重荧光免疫组化、免疫组化、免疫荧光
数据分析:流式数据分析、组化数据分析、多因子数据分析
基因水平:PCR Array、RT-PCR、PCR、单细胞测序
蛋白水平:MSD、Luminex、CBA、Elispot、Antibody Array、ELISA、Sengenics
细胞水平:细胞染色、细胞分选、细胞培养、细胞功能
组织水平:空间多组学、多重荧光免疫组化、免疫组化、免疫荧光
数据分析:流式数据分析、组化数据分析、多因子数据分析
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