Maternal Antibodies Inhibit Neonatal and Infant Responses to Vaccination by Shaping the Early-Life B Cell Repertoire within Germinal Centers

Maria Vono*, Christiane Sigrid Eberhardt, Floriane Auderset, Beatris Mastelic-Gavillet, Sylvain Lemeille, Dennis Christensen, Peter Andersen, Paul Henri Lambert, Claire Anne Siegrist

*Corresponding author for this work
    17 Citations (Scopus)
    16 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Maternal antibodies (MatAbs) protect offspring from infections but limit their responses to vaccination. The mechanisms of this inhibition are still debated. Using murine early-life immunization models mimicking the condition prevailing in humans, we observed the induction of CD4-T, T follicular helper, and germinal center (GC) B cell responses even when early-life antibody responses were abrogated by MatAbs. GC B cells induced in the presence of MatAbs form GC structures and exhibit canonical GC changes in gene expression but fail to differentiate into plasma cells and/or memory B cells in a MatAb titer-dependent manner. Furthermore, GC B cells elicited in the presence or absence of MatAbs use different VH and Vk genes and show differences in genes associated with B cell differentiation and isotype switching. Thus, MatAbs do not prevent B cell activation but control the output of the GC reaction both quantitatively and qualitatively, shaping the antigen-specific B cell repertoire.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalCell Reports
    Volume28
    Issue number7
    Pages (from-to)1773-1784.e5
    ISSN2211-1247
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 13 Aug 2019

    Keywords

    • epitope masking
    • germinal centers
    • immunization
    • maternal antibodies
    • neonates
    • repertoire

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