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Mini Review
20 October 2022

Characterizing immune regulatory pathways is critical to understand physiological and pathophysiological processes as well as to identify novel immunotherapeutic targets. The cation channel TMEM176B has emerged in the last years as a potential new immunoregulatory player and pharmacological target. Here, we review how expression data, clinical associations of genetic variants and functional studies support a dual role for TMEM176B in regulating immune responses. Thus, TMEM176B can inhibit effector immune responses in some settings whereas it may also promote immunity by supporting antigen presentation in others. We also discuss a potential role for TMEM176B in regulating type 2 and 3 immunity and comment recent data on modulation of DC biology and inflammasome activation as well as CD8+ T cell responses. Understanding the role of TMEM176B in immunity is critical to propose rational pharmacological approaches targeting this channel.

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7 citations

In order to fulfil the special requirements of antigen-specific activation and communication with other immune cells, B lymphocytes require finely regulated endosomal vesicle trafficking. How the endosomal machinery is regulated in B cells remains largely unexplored. In our previous proximity proteomic screen, we identified the SNARE protein Vti1b as one of the strongest candidates getting accumulated to the sites of early BCR activation. In this report, we follow up on this finding and investigate the localisation and function of Vti1b in B cells. We found that GFP-fused Vti1b was concentrated at the Golgi complex, around the MTOC, as well as in the Rab7+ lysosomal vesicles in the cell periphery. Upon BCR activation with soluble antigen, Vti1b showed partial localization to the internalized antigen vesicles, especially in the periphery of the cell. Moreover, upon BCR activation using surface-bound antigen, Vti1b polarised to the immunological synapse, colocalising with the Golgi complex, and with lysosomes at actin foci. To test for a functional role of Vti1b in early B cell activation, we used primary B cells isolated from Vit1b-deficient mouse. However, we found no functional defects in BCR signalling, immunological synapse formation, or processing and presentation of the internalized antigen, suggesting that the loss of Vti1b in B cells could be compensated by its close homologue Vti1a or other SNAREs.

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