Toll-like receptor 4-mediated signaling regulates IL-7-driven proliferation and differentiation of B-cell precursors

作者：Li, Qian; Han, Dongmei; Wang, Wei; Liu, Xiaoqing; Sun, Xiuyuan; Zhang, Jun; Li, Rong; Zhang, Yu^*

来源：Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 2014, 11(2): 132-140.

DOI：10.1038/cmi.2013.55

• B-cell differentiation
• B lymphopoiesis
• IL-7
• lipopolysaccharide
• Toll-like receptor 4

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is known to be a potent activator of mature B cells by signaling through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Its impact on early B-cell development, however, is not well defined. When comparing to C3H/HeN mice, TLR4-mutant C3H/HeJ mice showed an increase in the number of pro-B and pre-B cells in the bone marrow. When cultured in the presence of IL-7, the proliferation of pro-B and large pre-B cells was significantly inhibited by LPS, possibly due to reduced IL-7 receptor-alpha (IL-7R alpha) expression. Meanwhile, the generation of IgM(+)/IgD(+) B cells was greatly enhanced in IL-7 cultures of pro-B and pre-B cells. Consistent with these results, treatment with LPS facilitated the progression of adoptively transferred B220(+)IgM(-)IgD(-) precursors into IgD(+) cells. Overall, these data suggest that LPS has a profound influence on early B-cell development, which may contribute to the deregulated B-cell development under physiological and pathological conditions such as bacterial infections.

• 出版日期2014-3
• 单位北京大学; 南昌大学