High-affinity memory B cells induced by conjugate vaccines against weak tumor antigens are vulnerable to nonconjugated antigen.

Induction of antibody-mediated immunity against hematologic malignancies requires CD4(+) T-cell help, but weak tumor antigens generally fail to induce adequate T-cell responses, or to overcome tolerance. Conjugate vaccines can harness alternative help to activate responses, but memory B cells may then be exposed to leaking tumor-derived antigen without CD4(+) T-cell support. We showed previously using lymphoma-derived idiotypic antigen that exposure to "helpless" antigen silences the majority of memory IgG(+) B cells. Transfer experiments now indicate that silencing is permanent. In marked contrast to IgG, most coexisting IgM(+) memory B cells exposed to "helpless" antigen survive. Confirmation in a hapten (NP) model allowed measurement of affinity, revealing this, rather than isotype, as the determinant of survival. IgM(+) B cells had Ig variable region gene usage similar to IgG but with fewer somatic mutations. Survival of memory B cells appears variably controlled by affinity for antigen, allowing a minority of low affinity IgG(+), but most IgM(+), memory B cells to escape deletion in the absence of T-cell help. The latter remain, but the majority fail to undergo isotype switch. These findings could apply to other tumor antigens and are relevant for vaccination strategies aimed to induce long-term antibody.

Bystander stimulation of activated CD4+ T cells of unrelated specificity following a booster vaccination with tetanus toxoid.

Antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells are central to natural and vaccine-induced immunity. An ongoing antigen-specific T-cell response can, however, influence surrounding T cells with unrelated antigen specificities. We previously observed this bystander effect in healthy human subjects following recall vaccination with tetanus toxoid (TT). Since this interplay could be important for maintenance of memory, we have moved to a mouse model for further analysis. We investigated whether boosting memory CD4(+) T cells against TT in vivo would influence injected CD4(+) TCR transgenic T cells (OT-II) specific for an unrelated OVA peptide. If OT-II cells were pre-activated with OVA peptide in vitro, these cells showed a bystander proliferative response during the ongoing parallel TT-specific response. Bystander proliferation was dependent on boosting of the TT-specific memory response in the recipients, with no effect in naive mice. Bystander stimulation was also proportional to the strength of the TT-specific memory T-cell response. T cells activated in vitro displayed functional receptors for IL-2 and IL-7, suggesting these as potential mediators. This crosstalk between a stimulated CD4(+) memory T-cell response and CD4(+) T cells activated by an unrelated antigen could be important in human subjects continually buffeted by environmental antigens.