Germinal centers (GCs) are major sites of clonal B cell expansion and generation of long-lived, high-affinity antibody responses to pathogens. Signaling through TLRs on B cells promotes many aspects of GC B cell responses, including affinity maturation, class switching, and differentiation into long-lived memory and plasma cells. A major challenge for effective vaccination is identifying strategies to specifically promote GC B cell responses. Here, we have identified a mechanism of regulation of GC B cell TLR signaling, mediated by αv integrins and noncanonical autophagy. Using B cell-specific αv-KO mice, we show that loss of αv-mediated TLR regulation increased GC B cell expansion, somatic hypermutation, class switching, and generation of long-lived plasma cells after immunization with virus-like particles (VLPs) or antigens associated with TLR ligand adjuvants. Furthermore, targeting αv-mediated regulation increased the magnitude and breadth of antibody responses to influenza virus vaccination. These data therefore identify a mechanism of regulation of GC B cells that can be targeted to enhance antibody responses to vaccination.
Keywords: B cells; Immunology; Innate immunity; Integrins; Vaccines.