CD19 regulation of human B cell responses. B cell proliferation and antibody secretion are inhibited or enhanced by ligation of the CD19 surface glycoprotein depending on the stimulating signal used.

The regulation of human B cell proliferation and differentiation by the CD19 surface glycoprotein was investigated. As expected, proliferation induced by costimulation with anti-IgM plus IL-4 or IL-2, or with G28.8 antibody plus IL-4 was inhibited by antibody ligation of CD19. In contrast, proliferation of tonsillar B cells to mitogenic doses of PMA (5 ng/ml) or to EBV were enhanced, and proliferation of B cell lines to BCGF(low) was unaffected. Similarly, specific antibody responses by tonsillar B cells to influenza virus, and Ig secretion by the CESS lymphoblastoid cell line in response to IL-6 were inhibited, whereas polyclonal Ig production in response to EBV was enhanced. These results show that human B cell responses may be inhibited or enhanced by CD19 depending on the stimulating signal used. The difference in response to CD19 ligation did not depend on whether proliferation or differentiation was being measured, or whether stimulation was by surface Ig. In experiments using PMA as a T cell independent mitogen, it was found that ligation of CD19 inhibited proliferation of B cells costimulated with low doses of PMA plus G28.5 (CD40) antibody, but enhanced the response to higher (mitogenic) doses with or without costimulation with G28.5. The change from inhibition to enhancement occurred over a very small increase in PMA dose (0.5-1.0 ng/ml) that corresponded exactly to the lowest dose required for mitogenic activity. Finally, we showed that CD19 ligation inhibited the increase in surface expression of CD23, but not IgM, induced by IL-4, showing that CD19 ligation can have opposed effects on different responses to the same signal. Together our results suggest that CD19 activation of human B cells interacts with other signaling events to enhance or inhibit the subsequent response.