Expression of cellular FLIP by B cells is required for their participation in an immune response

High levels of the Fas-signaling antagonist cellular FLIP (cFLIP) in germinal center (GC) B cells suggests an important role for this factor during this stage of the T cell-dependent B cell immune response. To test this idea, we used mice with B cell-specific deletion of a floxed cFLIP allele. Although deletion of cFLIP did not alter their primary development, participation of cFLIP-deficient B cells in the immune response was severely perturbed. Using previously characterized IgH locus-targeted BCR transgenic mice, we showed that adoptively transferred cFLIP-deficient follicular B cells do not effectively participate in the GC response in wild-type hosts. However, this failure was accompanied by severe defects in the initial activation and proliferation of these B cells in vivo. In addition, immunization of mice with B cell-specific cFLIP deletion resulted in selective recruitment into GCs and Ab-forming cell responses of B cells that had not deleted the floxed cFLIP allele. Together, these findings demonstrate that expression of cFLIP is a prerequisite for participation of B cells in all stages of Ag-driven immune responses.