Rainbow Trout IgM⁺ B Cells Preferentially Respond to Thymus-Independent Antigens but Are Activated by CD40L.

In the absence of class switch recombination and germinal centers, the mechanisms through which B cells from teleost fish mount extrafollicular immunoglobulin M (IgM) memory responses remains mostly unexplored. In this report, we demonstrate that teleost IgM⁺ B cells respond to CD40L, a thymus-dependent activation signal, similarly to mammalian B2 cells. However, when stimulated with different types of antigens, fish IgM⁺ B cells only reach a general activation state in response to antigens cataloged as thymus-independent 1 (TI-1) in mammals, as established through both functional assays and RNA sequencing. Interestingly, fish IgM⁺ B cells remained completely unresponsive to TI-2 antigens, suggesting that the engagement of innate receptors provided by TI-1 antigens is required for the activation of teleost B cells. Finally, a synergy between CD40L and TI-1 antigens was also demonstrated, further supporting that there is no clear dichotomy between thymus-dependent and TI responses in teleost fish.

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