B cell tolerance checkpoint function in multiple sclerosis and transient CD52 depletion

The anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody (mAb) alemtuzumab is highly effective in treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) but often leads to secondary autoimmunity. Understanding its impact on B cell tolerance mechanisms is crucial for deciphering both B cell involvement in RRMS and development of secondary autoimmunity. Previous investigations indicate that between the two B cell tolerance checkpoints, only the peripheral checkpoint is dysfunctional in RRMS.

To evaluate peripheral B cell tolerance checkpoint integrity in alemtuzumab-treated RRMS patients and healthy/disease controls, we used an established approach and constructed 128 recombinant mAbs from single IgM+CD27-CD19+CD10- mature naïve B cells; these were subsequently tested their poly- and autoreactivity by ELISA. We examined mAbs from three healthy donors (HDs), three immunotherapy-naïve MS patients, and six patients treated with alemtuzumab at comparable time points post-treatment (mean ± SD 3.7 ± 0.67 years); of those, three had developed secondary autoimmunity. In parallel, we investigated B cell receptor repertoire parameters associated with tolerance mechanisms in the same subject groups.

Polyreactivity of mature naïve B cell-derived mAbs did not differ among subject groups. In mAb autoreactivity measurements that define peripheral checkpoint integrity, we observed that two of three immunotherapy-naïve RRMS patients had a defective peripheral checkpoint. Among patients treated with alemtuzumab, a bimodal distribution was noted: three of six patients had a high fraction of autoreactive mAbs, pointing to a defective peripheral checkpoint, and three had an autoreactive fraction significantly lower than that of HDs (P=0.027). This bimodal distribution did not align with presence of secondary autoimmunity. Further, alemtuzumab-treated patients showed lower mean naïve B cell complentarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) net charge than HDs (P=0.036). No differences were found in naïve B cell IGKJ1 usage frequency (a measure of the extent of secondary VJ recombination) among the three subject groups. Examination of memory CDR3 properties revealed differences between alemtuzumab-treated patients and controls in the IgD compartment.

In conclusion, our most remarkable finding was that in a subset of alemtuzumab- treated patients the fraction of autoreactive mature naive B cells, defining peripheral tolerance checkpoint function, was extraordinarily low compared to healthy and disease controls in this study as well as previous reports. This phenomenon could be connected to the improvement of the function of T regulatory cells, known to be defective in MS and to influence peripheral checkpoint function, as well as to a deep depletion of B cells up to the pre-B cell stage.