Submit manuscript...
MOJ
eISSN: 2373-4442

Immunology

Short Communication Volume 1 Issue 1

IL-10 Producing Regulatory B cells: Where Are We?

Armand Bensussan Bensussan,1 Adele de Masson,2 Martine Bagot,3 Jean DavidBouaziz3

1INSERM U, Hopital Saint Louis, France
2Laboratory of Onco-Dermatology, Immunology & Cutaneous Stem Cells, Paris Diderot University, France
3Department of Dermatology, Hopital Saint Louis, France

Correspondence: Armand Bensussan, Hopital Saint Louis, INSERM U976, Equerre Bazin, 1 avenue Claude Vellefaux, F-75010, Paris, France, Tel 331-537-220-81, Fax 331-537-220-51

Received: April 25, 2014 | Published: April 29, 2014

Citation: Bouaziz JD, de Masson A, Bagot M, Bensussan A (2014) IL-10 Producing Regulatory B cells: Where Are We?. MOJ Immunol 1(1):00003. DOI: 10.15406/moji.2014.01.00003

Download PDF

Abstract

B cells have long been only considered as effector cells during the specific immune response because of antibody production and antigen presentation to T cells. Recently growing evidence has shown that B cells are also able to secrete proinflammatory cytokines as well as the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. IL-10-producing regulatory B cells (Bregs) and more recently IL-10 producing plasma cells have been undoubtedly identified in mice and shown to down-regulate inflammation. Several recent works have also identified IL-10 producing regulatory B cells in humans and have begun to unravel their phenotype and mode of suppression. Future work should explore whether a specific transcriptional factor drives the natural fate of Bregs or whether IL-10 producing B cells only emerge from any B cell subset in response to specific inflammatory signals.

Keywords: B cell, Plasma cell, Interleukin-10, Tolerance

Short Communication

B cells were first recognized for their role as positive regulators of immune responses in immunity, because they can give rise to antibody-producing plasma cells and contribute to CD4+ T cell responses. The B cells carrying these functions can be commonly designated as effector B cells. Recent studies have indicated that B cells also play a role as negative regulators of immune response in autoimmunity, these properties being mainly attributed to the latterly described interleukin 10 (IL-10) regulatory B cell (Breg) compartment.1,2 Bregs play key roles in immune tolerance and their absence results in exacerbation of auto-immunity,3-7 graft-versus-host disease8 and impaired anti-tumor immune response.9 The first assumption that B cells may have a suppressive role wass made in the early seventies in a contact dermatitis mouse model. In this study, adoptively transferred whole splenocytes but not adoptively transferred B cell depleted splenocytes had a suppressive effect in vivo.10 In mouse models of inflammation key experiments demonstrated the negative regulatory role of IL-10 producing B cells. Janeway et al.5 have shown that B cells had regulatory properties in a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).5 Later, the regulatory properties of these B cells were linked to their ability to produce IL-10:3 bone marrow chimeras with IL-10 deficient B cells have more severe autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) (“B cells regulate autoimmunity by provision of IL-10”). Mizoguchi et al.11 demonstrated that chronic intestinal inflammation generates IL-10 producing B cells in mesenteric lymph nodes and that these IL-10 producing B cells suppressed inflammatory bowel disease.11 Mauri et al.7 described that repeated adoptive transfer of CD40-activated B cells (IL-10 producing B cells) reduced the severity of collagen-induced arthritis in mice.7 Finally, Tedder group showed in several publications that adoptive transfer of IL-10 producing B cells that displayed a CD5+CD1dhi phenotype (called “B10” cells) could diminish inflammation in mouse models of contact dermatitis,6 EAE12 and lupus.13 The most recent findings about the biology of Bregs in mice include: i/ the crucial role of interleukin 21 in the in vitro generation of IL-10 producing B cells,14 ii/ the emerging concept that plasma cells derived from B cells play a key role in vivo in the regulatory function of the B cell lineage through IL-10 and IL-35 cytokine production.15 We and others have also identified IL-10 producing regulatory B cells in humans and have begun to unravel their phenotype and mode of suppression. Cell surface phenotype of human Bregs mainly includes CD24highCD27+ B cell subset.16,17 and CD24highCD38high transitional blood B cell subset.18 Mechanisms of suppression may imply inhibition of CD4+ T proliferation, inhibition of Th1 differentiation, induction of regulatory T cells and suppression of monocyte activation. Recently diminished frequency and/or a diminished suppressive capacity of Bregs have been demonstrated in patients with lupus,18 immune thrombocytopenia,19 rheumatoid arthritis20 and ANCA-associated vasculitis.21 However the exact mechanism of how human Bregs exert their regulatory functions in vivo remains unclear. Future work should explore whether a specific transcriptional factor drives the natural fate of Bregs or whether IL-10 producing B cells only emerge from any B cell subset in response to specific inflammatory signals.

Acknowledgments

None.

Conflicts of interest

Author declares there are no conflicts of interest.

Funding

None.

References

  1. Mauri C, Bosma.  A Immune regulatory function of B cells.  Ann Rev Immunol. 2012;30:221-241.
  2. Bouaziz JD, Yanaba K, Tedder TF.  Regulatory B cells as inhibitors of immune responses and inflammation. Immunol Rev. 2008;224:201-214.
  3. Fillatreau S, Sweenie CH, McGeachy MJ, et al. B cells regulate autoimmunity by provision of IL-10. Nature Immunology. 2002;3:944-950.
  4. Mizoguchi A, Mizoguchi E, Smith RN, et al. Suppressive role of B cells in chronic colitis of T cell receptor alpha mutant mice. J Exp Med. 1997;186(10):1749-1756.
  5. Wolf SD, Dittel BN, Hardardottir F, et al. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induction in genetically B cell-deficient mice. J Exp Med. 1996;184(6):2271-2278.
  6. Yanaba K, Bouaziz JD, Haas KM, et al. A regulatory B cell subset with a unique CD1dhiCD5+phenotype controls T cell-dependent inflammatory responses. Immunity. 2008;28(5):639-650.
  7. Mauri C, Gray D, Mushtaq N, et al. Prevention of arthritis by interleukin 10-producing B cells. J Exp Med. 2003;197(4):489-501.
  8. Rowe V, Banovic T, MacDonald KP, et al. Host B cells produce IL-10 following TBI and attenuate acute GVHD after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Blood. 2006;108(7):2485-2492.
  9. Inoue S, Leitner WW, Golding B, et al. Inhibitory effects of B cells on antitumor immunity. Cancer Res. 2006;66(15):7741-7747.
  10. Katz SI, Parker D, Turk JL. B-cell suppression of delayed hypersensitivity reactions. Nature. 1974;251:550-551.
  11. Mizoguchi A, Mizoguchi E, Takedatsu H, et al. Chronic intestinal inflammatory condition generates IL-10-producing regulatory B cell subset characterized by CD1d upregulation. Immunity. 2008;16(2):219-230.
  12. Matsushita T, Yanaba K, Bouaziz JD, et al. Regulatory B cells inhibit EAE initiation in mice while other B cells promote disease progression. J Clin Invest. 2008;118(10):3420-3430.
  13. Watanabe R, Ishiura N, Nakashima H, et al.  Regulatory B cells (B10 cells) have a suppressive role in murine lupus:CD19 and B10 cell deficiency exacerbates systemic autoimmunity. J Immunol. 2010;184(9):4801-4809.
  14. Yoshizaki A, Miyagaki T, DiLillo DJ, et al.  Regulatory B cells control T-cell autoimmunity through IL-21-dependent cognate interactions. Nature. 2012;491(7423):264-268.
  15. Shen P, Roch T, Lampropoulou V, et al. IL-35-producing B cells are critical regulators of immunity during autoimmune and infectious diseases. Nature. 2014;507(7492):366-370.
  16. Bouaziz JD, Calbo S, Maho-Vaillant M, et al.  IL10 produced by activated human B cells regulates CD4(+) T-cell activation in vitro. Eur J Immunol. 2010;40(10):2686-2691.
  17. Iwata Y, Matsushita T, Horikawa M, et al. Characterization of a rare IL-10-competent B-cell subset in humans that parallels mouse regulatory B10 cells. Blood. 2011;117(2):530-541.
  18. Blair PA, Norena LY, Flores Borja F, et al.  CD19+CD24hiCD38hi B cells exhibit regulatory capacity in healthy individuals but are functionally impaired in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus patients. Immunity. 2010;32(1):129-140.
  19. Li X, Zhong H, Bao W, Boulad N, et al. Defective regulatory B-cell compartment in patients with immune thrombocytopenia. Blood. 2012;120(16):3318-3325.
  20. Flores-Borja F, Bosma A, Ng D, et al.  CD19+CD24hiCD38hi B cells maintain regulatory T cells while limiting TH1 and TH2 differentiation. Sci Transl Med. 2013;5(173):173ra23.
  21. Wilde B, Thewissen M, Damoiseaux J, et al. Regulatory B cells in ANCA-associated vasculitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013;72(8):1416-1419.
Creative Commons Attribution License

©2014 Bouaziz, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.