Published online before print July 14, 2006

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(Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 2006;80:599-607.)
© 2006 by Society for Leukocyte Biology

Terminal B cell differentiation is skewed by deregulated interleukin-6 secretion in ß₂ integrin-deficient mice

Thorsten Peters^*, Wilhelm Bloch, Claudia Wickenhauser, Samir Tawadros, Tsvetelina Oreshkova^*, Daniel Kess^*, Thomas Krieg^¶, Werner Müller^|| and Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek^*,1

^* Department of Dermatology and Allergic Diseases, University of Ulm, Germany;
Institute of Pathology and Departments of
Medical Hematology and Oncology and
^¶ Dermatology and Center for Molecular Medicine (ZMMK), University of Cologne, Germany;
Department for Molecular and Cellular Sports Medicine, Institute of Circulation Research and Sports Medicine, Cologne, Germany; and
^|| Department of Experimental Immunology, Society for Biotechnological Research (GBF), Braunschweig, Germany

¹ Correspondence: Department of Dermatology and Allergic Diseases, University of Ulm, Maienweg 12, 89081 Ulm, Germany. E-mail: karin.scharffetter-kochanek{at}medizin.uni-ulm.de

Absence of the common ß chain (CD18) of ß₂ integrins leads to leukocyte-adhesion deficiency type-1 (LAD1) in humans. Mice with a CD18 null mutation suffer from recurrent bacterial infections, impaired wound healing, and skin ulcers, closely resembling human LAD1. Previous findings in CD18^–/– mice demonstrated a skewed terminal B cell differentiation with plasmacytosis and elevated serum immunoglobulin G (IgG). As interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a potent enhancer of plasma cell formation and Ig secretion, we assessed IL-6 serum levels of CD18^–/– and wild-type (WT) mice kept under a conventional or barrier facility or specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions. We detected an up to 20-fold increase in IL-6 in serum of CD18^–/– mice compared with WT controls when kept under conventional or barrier facility conditions, respectively. Under SPF conditions, no significant differences in terms of IL-6 serum levels were found between CD18^–/– and WT mice. However, histological alterations of secondary lymphoid tissues, plasmacytosis, abnormal plasmacytoid cells (Mott cells), and hypergammaglobulinemia persisted. To further analyze the role of IL-6 in these pathological alterations, we established a CD18^–/– IL-6^–/– double-deficient mouse mutant. In these mice, serum IgG levels were normal, and the altered plasma cell phenotype, including Mott cells, was no longer detectable. The CD18^–/– IL-6^–/– double-deficient mouse model thus demonstrated that IL-6 is responsible for parts of the phenotype seen in the CD18^–/– mouse mutants. It may be of interest to examine human leukocyte-adhesion deficiency type-1 patients closer and search for pathological changes possibly induced via overproduction of IL-6.

Key Words: hypergammaglobulinemia • proinflammatory cytokines • Mott cells • animal models

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