Expansion of B cells is necessary for the induction of T-Cell tolerance elicited through the anterior chamber of the eye

Antigens injected into the anterior chamber (AC) of the eye induce a form of peripheral immune tolerance termed anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID). ACAID is initiated by F4/80+ ocular antigen-presenting cells (APC) which capture ocular antigens and migrate to the spleen where they transfer antigenic peptides to B cells, which act as ancillary APC for the induction of T-regulatory cells (T-reg) that inhibit delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses. Here we show that ocular-like APC induce the expansion of tolerogenic splenic B cells. Furthermore, we show that inhibiting B-cell proliferation with either mitomycin-c or gamma - irradiation abolishes the ability of B cells to induce T-reg. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that B-cell proliferation is needed for B-cell-induced T-cell tolerance. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel