The Human Pre-B Cell Receptor Signaling Cascade Is Regulated Via PI-3Kinase and MAPK Pathway

Pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR) constitutes a major check point in the early steps of mouse and human B cell development. Several functions have been attributed to this receptor which include a delivery of proliferation and survival signals, increased sensitivity to interleukin-7 (IL-7) and down modulation of recombinase activating genes (RAG) and surrogate light chain (SLC) encoding genes. Pre-BCR is also involved in shaping the VH repertoire and preventing autoimmunity. Finally, there is increasing evidence that pre-BCR might be implicated in leukemogenesis. Most of the functions of pre-BCR have been predicted based on studies in knockout mice and leukemic cell lines. In a previous study we have shown that pre-BCR aggregation resulted in the activation of src and Syk kinases which in turn activated the PI-3K/Akt, Btk, PLCγ-2 and Ras/MAPK. In this study, we examined the pre-BCR signalling cascade using human normal primary pre-B cells with a particular focus on transcription factors activation and Rag modulation and their regulatory aspects.

Pre-B cells were sorted from adult human bone marrow samples, treated or not with inhibitors of Syk (BAY61–3606), Akt (LY294002) and MEKK1 (UO126) prior to crosslink the pre-BCR by means of F(ab')₂ anti-μHC. The effect of Pre-BCR signaling was examined by quantifying the transcript levels of Rag1, Rag2, E2A, EBF1, Pax5, FoxO1 and FoxO3, IRF4/8. Activation of transcription factors such as NF-κB p50, c-Fos, IRF4 and FoxO3A, was assessed by analyzing their nuclear translocation by immunofluorescence microscopy.

We show that NF-κB p50 is translocated into nucleus within 3h after pre-BCR stimulation. Crosslinking of pre-BCR also resulted in an enhancement of nuclear c-Fos translocation. BAY61-3606 (Syk inhibitor) treatment resulted in complete apoptosis (100 % cell death within 48h). Although treatment of normal pre-B cells with LY294002 or U0126 did not alter cell survival, nuclear translocation of pre-BCR-induced p50 NF-κB was prevented by former and enhanced by later. Conversely, c-Fos nuclear expression was inhibited by U0126 and slightly but consistently enhanced by LY294002 in association with a decrease in its cytoplasmic location. Pre-BCR stimulation also induced IRF4 translocation to the nucleus. Pre-BCR stimulation also resulted in the down regulation of Rag1 (− 48 %, P<0.01), Pax5 (− 40%, P<0.01) and E2A (− 35 %, P< 0.01) transcripts, whereas EBF1 and FoxO1 and 3 expression remained unchanged. In LY294002-treated cells, Rag1/Rag2 expression was up regulated (+130%, P< 0.01 and +251%, P< 0.01, respectively) following pre-BCR crosslinking, whereas in the presence of U0126 the pre-BCR induced Rag1/Rag2 down modulation remained unchanged.

Our results indicate that the pre-BCR has the potential to promote pre-B cell proliferation, survival and differentiation by activating NF-kB, c-Fos and IRF4. It also has the ability to protect pre-B cells from genome instability by down-regulating Rag1/2, probably through down modulation of Pax5 and E2A. We bring evidence that PI-3 K/Akt pathway plays a crucial role in the regulation of the pre-BCR signaling cascade and that Akt-mediated NF-kB and c-Fos activation is antagonized by MAPK. Up-regulation of Rag transcripts upon Akt inhibition suggests either a feed-back negative loop or a dual effect of pre-BCR on Rag expression with an Akt-dependent Rag down regulation and an accessory pathway that enhances Rag expression.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.