A role for Hes1 in constraining germinal center B cell formation

Xingxing Shao; Xin Liu; Hai Qi

doi:10.1016/j.cellin.2023.100078

A role for Hes1 in constraining germinal center B cell formation

Cell Insight. 2023 Jan 28;2(2):100078. doi: 10.1016/j.cellin.2023.100078. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Xingxing Shao^{1

2

3}, Xin Liu^{2

4}, Hai Qi^{1

2

3

4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Laboratory of Dynamic Immunobiology, Institute for Immunology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
³ School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Frontiers Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Beijing Key Laboratory for Immunological Research on Chronic Diseases, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Germinal center is a transient lymphoid tissue structure in which B cells undergo affinity maturation and differentiate into memory B cells and plasma cells. GC formation depends on B cell expression of BCL6, a master transcription regulator of the GC state. Bcl6 expression is under elaborate control by external signals. HES1 plays important roles in T-cell lineage commitment, although little is known about its potential roles in GC formation. Here we report that B-cell-specific HES1 deletion causes a significant increase in GC formation, leading to increased production of plasma cells. We further provide evidence that HES1 inhibits BCL6 expression in a bHLH domain-dependent manner. Our study suggests a new layer of regulation of GC initiation mediated by HES1 and, by inference, Notch signals in vivo.