Neutrophils recruited to immunization sites initiating vaccine-induced antibody responses by locally expressing BAFF

Yangyang Wang; Kuo Qu; Wenting Lu; Peiyan Zhao; Zhe Wang; Cuiyun Cui; Ye Liu; Ming Yang; Yongli Yu; Liying Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104453

Neutrophils recruited to immunization sites initiating vaccine-induced antibody responses by locally expressing BAFF

iScience. 2022 May 23;25(6):104453. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104453. eCollection 2022 Jun 17.

Authors

Yangyang Wang¹, Kuo Qu¹, Wenting Lu¹, Peiyan Zhao¹, Zhe Wang², Cuiyun Cui², Ye Liu², Ming Yang¹, Yongli Yu², Liying Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Biology, College of Basic Medical Sciences and Institute of Pediatrics, First Hospital of Jilin University, Norman Bethune Health Science Center, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, China.
² Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Norman Bethune Health Science Center, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, China.

Abstract

Neutrophils played a key role in the innate immune responses. Less is known about whether and how the neutrophils recruited in the immunization sites affecting the vaccine-induced antibody responses. In the process of evaluating the efficacy of an oil-in-water emulsion-formulated vaccine in mice, we found that neutrophils were rapidly and massively recruited to immunization sites but were barely detected in the draining lymph nodes. Interestingly, B cell-activating factor (BAFF) was abundantly expressed in the recruiting neutrophils at a very early stage. The initial neutrophil-derived BAFF firstly brought about the B cell responses in the local part, then subsequently in lymphoid organs. Activated B cells produced more BAFF through TLR9-IRF5 signaling pathway, thereby amplifying the vaccine-induced antibody responses. Suppressing BAFF in the neutrophils could weaken the B cell activation and reduce the antibody production. The data indicate that vaccines endow neutrophils with the potential to orchestrate antibody responses at immunization sites.

Keywords: Components of the immune system; Immune response; Immunology.