Pten controls B-cell responsiveness and germinal center reaction by regulating the expression of IgD BCR

In contrast to other B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) classes, the function of IgD BCR on mature B cells remains largely elusive as mature B cells co-express IgM, which is sufficient for development, survival, and activation of B cells. Here, we show that IgD expression is regulated by the forkhead box transcription factor FoxO1, thereby shifting the responsiveness of mature B cells towards recognition of multivalent antigen. FoxO1 is repressed by phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling and requires the lipid phosphatase Pten for its activation. Consequently, Pten-deficient B cells expressing knock-ins for BCR heavy and light chain genes are unable to upregulate IgD. Furthermore, in the presence of autoantigen, Pten-deficient B cells cannot eliminate the autoreactive BCR specificity by secondary light chain gene recombination. Instead, Pten-deficient B cells downregulate BCR expression and become unresponsive to further BCR-mediated stimulation. Notably, we observed a delayed germinal center (GC) reaction by IgD-deficient B cells after immunization with trinitrophenyl-ovalbumin (TNP-Ova), a commonly used antigen for T-cell-dependent antibody responses. Together, our data suggest that the activation of IgD expression by Pten/FoxO1 results in mature B cells that are selectively responsive to multivalent antigen and are capable of initiating rapid GC reactions and T-cell-dependent antibody responses.