Epigenetic Plasticity Enables CNS-Trafficking of EBV-infected B Lymphocytes |
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Authors: | Samantha S. Soldan Chenhe Su R. Jason Lamontagne Nicholas Grams Fang Lu Yue Zhang James D. Gesualdi Drew M. Frase Lois E. Tolvinski Kayla Martin Troy E. Messick Jonathan T. Fingerut Ekaterina Koltsova Andrew Kossenkov Paul M. Lieberman |
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Affiliation: | 1. The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America;2. The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America;3. Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America;4. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States of America;Duke University Medical Center, UNITED STATES |
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Abstract: | Subpopulations of B-lymphocytes traffic to different sites and organs to provide diverse and tissue-specific functions. Here, we provide evidence that epigenetic differences confer a neuroinvasive phenotype. An EBV+ B cell lymphoma cell line (M14) with low frequency trafficking to the CNS was neuroadapted to generate a highly neuroinvasive B-cell population (MUN14). MUN14 B cells efficiently infiltrated the CNS within one week and produced neurological pathologies. We compared the gene expression profiles of viral and cellular genes using RNA-Seq and identified one viral (EBNA1) and several cellular gene candidates, including secreted phosphoprotein 1/osteopontin (SPP1/OPN), neuron navigator 3 (NAV3), CXCR4, and germinal center-associated signaling and motility protein (GCSAM) that were selectively upregulated in MUN14. ATAC-Seq and ChIP-qPCR revealed that these gene expression changes correlated with epigenetic changes at gene regulatory elements. The neuroinvasive phenotype could be attenuated with a neutralizing antibody to OPN, confirming the functional role of this protein in trafficking EBV+ B cells to the CNS. These studies indicate that B-cell trafficking to the CNS can be acquired by epigenetic adaptations and provide a new model to study B-cell neuroinvasion associated CNS lymphoma and autoimmune disease of the CNS, including multiple sclerosis (MS). |
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