CD27hiCD38hi plasmablasts are activated B cells of mixed origin with distinct function

• Main Authors: Angeline Rouers, Ramapraba Appanna, Marion Chevrier, Josephine Lum, Mai Chan Lau, Lingqiao Tan, Thomas Loy, Alicia Tay, Raman Sethi, Durgalakshmi Sathiakumar, Kaval Kaur, Julia Böhme, Yee-Sin Leo, Laurent Renia, Shanshan W. Howland, Amit Singhal, Jinmiao Chen, Katja Fink
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-05-01
• Series: iScience
• Subjects: Immunology; Cell biology; Functional aspects of cell biology; Systems biology
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221004508

Summary: Clinically important broadly reactive B cells evolve during multiple infections, with B cells re-activated after secondary infection differing from B cells activated after a primary infection. Here we studied CD27highCD38high plasmablasts from patients with a primary or secondary dengue virus infection. Three transcriptionally and functionally distinct clusters were identified. The largest cluster 0/1 was plasma cell-related, with cells coding for serotype cross-reactive antibodies of the IgG1 isotype, consistent with memory B cell activation during an extrafollicular response. Cells in clusters 2 and 3 expressed low levels of antibody genes and high levels of genes associated with oxidative phosphorylation, EIF2 pathway, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Clusters 2 and 3 showed a transcriptional footprint of T cell help, in line with activation from naive B cells or memory B cells. Our results contribute to the understanding of the parallel B cell activation events that occur in humans after natural primary and secondary infection.