Plasma Cells and Nonplasma B Cells Express Differing IgE Repertoires in Allergic Sensitization

The selection of allergen-specific B cells into the plasma cell (PC) pool is a critical step in the immune dysregulation that leads to the production of IgE in allergic diseases. We sought to characterize the murine IgE repertoire. In particular, we questioned whether the IgE repertoire of plasmablasts (PBs)/PCs differs from the IgE repertoire of non-PCs. Therefore, we sorted splenocytes from OVA-sensitized BALB/c mice into CD138(pos) (PBs/PCs) and CD19(pos)/CD138(neg) (non-PCs) B cell fractions. Using reverse transcription PCR, we amplified, cloned, and sequenced IgE mRNA transcripts and analyzed the Ig H chain repertoire. As a reference, we characterized the IgM repertoire of the same animals. Compared to IgM, the IgE sequences contained a significantly higher level of somatic mutations and displayed an oligoclonal expansion with clonotype restriction. Interestingly, we found two phenotypically distinct IgE-producing B cell subpopulations that differed in their repertoire of H chain transcripts; IgE transcripts from PBs/PCs showed significantly more signs of Ag-driven selection than transcripts from non-PCs, including 1) a higher number of somatic mutations, 2) increased clustering of replacement mutations in the CDRs, and 3) biased third CDR of the heavy Ig chain composition. In conclusion, PBs/PCs and non-PCs from OVA-sensitized mice express distinct IgE repertoires, suggesting that 1) the repertoire of IgE-expressing PBs/PCs represents a highly biased selection from the global B cell repertoire and 2) Ag-driven affinity maturation is a major force that selects IgE-producing B cells into the CD138(pos) PC pool. The Journal of Immunology, 2010, 184: 4947-4954.