The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is a severe immune deficiency, caused by mutations of WASP, that belongs to a family of proteins that control de novo actin nucleation. It is unclear whether defects in humoral immunity observed in patients with WAS and in WASP-/- mice reflect a B-cell intrinsic role of WASP for B cell differentiation, and function, and whether N-WASP may play a compensatory role in these processes. We will test the hypothesis that lack of expression of WASP and/or N-WASP affects B lymphocyte maturation, homing and function in a cell-intrinsic fashion. To this purpose, we will study in vivo competition models between WASP+ and WASP- cells in humans and mice. We will also develop conditional knock-out models in which expression of WASP and/or N-WASP is ablated in B lymphocytes. Specifically, we will: 1) analyze the role of WASP in B cell development and maturation, through the analysis of in vivo competition models both in mice and in humans. The proportion of memory and naive B cells will be analyzed among WASP+ and WASP- cells in carriers of XLT. We will also analyze the role of WASP in germinal center reaction and somatic hypermutation following immunization in WASP+/- mice and in WASP+/- mice in which expression of N-WASP is deleted in B cells. 2) test the hypothesis that the B-cell specific lack of WASP and/or N-WASP affects B cell maturation, homing and function in vivo. To this purpose, we will develop a conditional model of WASP deficiency in B cells. We will test the peripheral distribution and homing of B cells, and response to immunization in mice with B-cell specific lack of WASP and/or N-WASP. We will analyze susceptibility of mice with B-cell-specific deficiency of WASP to invasive S. pneumoniae infection, and explore possible defects in the number of IgM memory B cells in patients with WASP gene mutations. 3) test the hypothesis that the B-cell specific lack of WASP and/or N-WASP affects B cell function in vitro. To this purpose, chemotaxis, activation and class-switch recombination will be studied in vitro in B cells from mice with B-cell specific lack of WASP and/or N-WASP. We anticipate that the results of .this project will allow a better understanding of the biology of WAS, and will be important for development of novel forms of treatment of WAS, including gene therapy.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 110 publications