Abstract
The roles that CD16+ monocyte subset plays in T-cell activation and B-cell response have not been well studied in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The present study aimed to investigate the distribution of CD16+ monocyte subsets in SLE and explore their possible roles in T-cell activation and B-cell differentiation. The frequencies of monocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of healthy controls (HCs) and patients with SLE were determined by flow cytometry. Monocyte subsets were sorted and cocultured with CD4+ T cells and CD19+ B cells. Then, T and B cells were collected for different subset detection, while the supernatants were collected for immunoglobulin G, IgA, and IgM or interferon-γ and interleukin-17A detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results showed that CD16+ monocytes exhibited a proinflammatory phenotype with elevated CD80, CD86, HLA-DR, and CX3CR1 expression on the cell surface. It's further demonstrated that CD16+ monocytes from patients and HCs shared different cell-surface marker profiles. The CD16+ subset was enriched in SLE and had an exacerbated capacity to promote CD4+ T cell polarization into a Th17 phenotype. Also, CD16+ monocytes had enhanced impacts on CD19+ B cells to differentiate into plasma B cells and regulatory B cells with more Ig production. This study demonstrated that CD16+ monocytes, characterized by different cell-surface marker profiles, were enriched and played a critical role in driving the pathogenic T- and B-cell responses in patients with SLE.
Highlights
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with multiorgan damage characterized by immunological abnormalities that include deficient innate immune response and aberrant activation of autoreactive T and B cells, with subsequent production of pathogenic autoantibodies against cell nuclear components and resultant end-organ injury [1,2,3,4]
Human peripheral blood monocytes could be categorized into CD16+ monocytes and CD16− monocytes based on differential CD16 expression
This study showed that an enrichment of CD16+ monocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with SLE is associated with serum autoantibody production and that CD16+ monocytes exhibited a proinflammatory phenotype with high CD80, CD86, HLA-DR, and CX3CR1 expression
Summary
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with multiorgan damage characterized by immunological abnormalities that include deficient innate immune response and aberrant activation of autoreactive T and B cells, with subsequent production of pathogenic autoantibodies against cell nuclear components and resultant end-organ injury [1,2,3,4]. It is an activating FcγR that transmits activation signals through an immune-receptor tyrosine-based activation motif contained in its cytoplasmic region and mediates endocytosis and phagocytosis of immune complexes, including antibody-coated microorganisms [6]. In both mice and humans, blood monocyte subsets exhibit differential surface expression of various FcγRs. For the past two decades, CD16 distinguishes human monocytes into two major subsets (CD16+ and CD16− subsets). The roles that CD16+ monocyte subset plays in T-cell activation and B-cell response have not been well studied in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
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