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Original Article |
Correspondence to: Nicole Baumgarth, Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Tel:530-754-5813 Fax:530-752-7914 E-mail:nbaumgarth{at}ucdavis.edu.
We have studied the role of secreted immunoglobulin (Ig)M in protection from infection with influenza virus and delineated the relative contributions of B-1 versus B-2 cellderived IgM in this process. Mice deficient in secreted IgM but capable of expressing surface IgM and secreting other Ig classes show significantly reduced virus clearance and survival rates compared with wild-type controls. Irradiation chimeras in which only either B-1 or B-2 cells lack the ability to secrete IgM show mortality rates similar to those of mice in which neither B-1 nor B-2 cells secrete IgM. Dependence on both sources of IgM for survival is partially explained by findings in allotype chimeras that broadly cross-reactive B-1 cellderived natural IgM is present before infection, whereas virus strainspecific, B-2 cellderived IgM appears only after infection. Furthermore, lack of IgM secreted from one or both sources significantly impairs the antiviral IgG response. Reconstitution of chimeras lacking B-1 cellderived IgM only with IgM-containing serum from noninfected mice improved both survival rates and serum levels of virus-specific IgG. Thus, virus-induced IgM must be secreted in the presence of natural IgM for efficient induction of specific IgG and for immune protection, identifying B-1 and B-2 cellderived IgM antibodies as nonredundant components of the antiviral response.
Key Words: B cells, immunoglobulin M, immune protection, CD5+ B cell, respiratory tract
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