IL-7 receptor signaling drives human B-cell progenitor differentiation and expansion.

Although absence of interleukin-7 (IL-7) signaling completely abrogates T and B lymphopoiesis in mice, patients with severe combined immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the IL-7 receptor α chain (IL-7Rα) still generate peripheral blood B cells. Consequently, human B lymphopoiesis has been thought to be independent of IL-7 signaling. Using flow cytometric analysis and single-cell RNA sequencing of bone marrow samples from healthy controls and patients who are IL-7Rα deficient, in combination with in vitro modeling of human B-cell differentiation, we demonstrate that IL-7R signaling plays a crucial role in human B lymphopoiesis. IL-7 drives proliferation and expansion of early B-cell progenitors but not of pre-BII large cells and has a limited role in the prevention of cell death. Furthermore, IL-7 guides cell fate decisions by enhancing the expression of BACH2, EBF1, and PAX5, which jointly orchestrate the specification and commitment of early B-cell progenitors. In line with this observation, early B-cell progenitors of patients with IL-7Rα deficiency still expressed myeloid-specific genes. Collectively, our results unveil a previously unknown role for IL-7 signaling in promoting the B-lymphoid fate and expanding early human B-cell progenitors while defining important differences between mice and humans. Our results have implications for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation strategies in patients with T- B+ severe combined immunodeficiency and provide insights into the role of IL-7R signaling in leukemogenesis. © 2023 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.

Citation

Fabian M P Kaiser, Iga Janowska, Roberta Menafra, Melanie de Gier, Jakov Korzhenevich, Ingrid Pico-Knijnenburg, Indu Khatri, Ansgar Schulz, Taco W Kuijpers, Arjan C Lankester, Lukas Konstantinidis, Miriam Erlacher, Susan Kloet, Pauline A van Schouwenburg, Marta Rizzi, Mirjam van der Burg. IL-7 receptor signaling drives human B-cell progenitor differentiation and expansion. Blood. 2023 Sep 28;142(13):1113-1130

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PMID: 37369082

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