Marianna Florova, Tiago Abreu-Mota, Guido C Paesen, Anna Sophia Beetschen, Karen Cornille, Anna-Friederike Marx, Kerstin Narr, Mehmet Sahin, Mirela Dimitrova, Nivedya Swarnalekha, Jane Beil-Wagner, Natasa Savic, Pawel Pelczar, Thorsten Buch, Carolyn G King, Thomas A Bowden, Daniel D Pinschewer
Viral mimicry of host cell structures has been postulated to curtail the B cell receptor (BCR) repertoire against persisting viruses through tolerance mechanisms. This concept awaits, however, experimental testing in a setting of natural virus-host relationship. We engineered mouse models expressing a monoclonal BCR specific for the envelope glycoprotein of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), a naturally persisting mouse pathogen. When the heavy chain of the LCMV-neutralizing antibody KL25 was paired with its unmutated ancestor light chain, most B cells underwent receptor editing, a behavior reminiscent of autoreactive clones...
March 12, 2024: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America