AUTHOR=He Youdi , Xu Ruonan , Zhai Bing , Zhou Shan , Wang Xiaoqian , Wang Renxi 

TITLE=Gm614 Protects Germinal Center B Cells From Death by Suppressing Caspase-1 Transcription in Lupus-Prone Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.585726

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.585726

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Only a few signaling pathways have been reported in germinal center (GC) B-cell proliferation and death. In this study, we showed that a novel uncharacterized Gm614 protein is highly expressed in GC B cells from lupus-prone mice. Critically, ablation of this GC B-cell-specific Gm614 promoted GC B-cell death and mitigation of autoimmune symptoms, whereas overexpression protected GC B cells from death and exacerbated autoimmune symptoms. We demonstrated that mechanistically, nuclear-localized Gm614 reduced caspase-1 expression in GC B cells by binding with caspase-1 promoter to suppress its activation. Our results suggest that Gm614 protects GC B cells from death by suppressing caspase-1 transcription in autoimmune diseases. This may provide some hints for targeting the cell proliferation involved in autoimmune diseases.</p>