Stroma-Driven Notch2 Signaling Controls Naïve B Cell Fate By Regulating Microenvironmental Positioning within the Spleen
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Marginal zone (MZ) B cells are naïve innate-like B cells that function as a first line of defense in the spleen within the blood-rich marginal zone. Previous research revealed a critical role for Notch2 receptors in B cells and Delta-like1 (Dll1) ligands in Ccl19-Cre + fibroblastic stromal cells to support the development and maintenance of MZ B cells in mice. Yet, little is known about how MZ B cells integrate extracellular signals and Notch-regulated transcriptional programs to support their positioning and function. To understand the basis of Dll1/Notch2's specificity, we used monoclonal antibodies to acutely block Notch2 receptors vs. Dll1 or Dll4 Notch ligands in vivo. Dll1 and Notch2 blockade, but not Dll4 inhibition, rapidly decreased MZ B cell numbers and Notch2-regulated transcription in B cells. Analysis of fluorescent reporter alleles revealed co-expression of Ccl19-Cre;ROSA26 YFP and Dll1-mCherry or Dll4-mCherry within white pulp follicles, showing that both Delta-like ligands are available in fibroblastic stromal cells, although with differential abundance and spatial distribution. To determine if the reliance of MZ B cells on Dll1 was due to ligand availability in the appropriate stromal niche, we inactivated endogenous Dll1 and Dll4 via Ccl19-Cre-mediated recombination, and restored Dll1 or Dll4 expression selectively via separate Cre-inducible expression alleles in the Hprt locus. Dll4 could not sustain Notch2-dependent MZ B cells even when expressed in the correct stromal niche, suggesting that Dll1/Notch2 interactions have unique biochemical and functional properties. As MZ B cells are known to shuttle between the follicle and the MZ across the marginal sinus, we assessed where Dll1/Notch2-mediated signals are delivered to MZ B cells. High abundance of intracellular Notch2 and expression of the Notch target gene, Hes1 (as revealed via a Hes1-GFP reporter) was apparent in CD1d high MZ B cells across the marginal sinus, including prominent signaling within B cell follicles (and not only in the MZ) (Figure 1A). We next evaluated the transcriptional programs controlled by Notch in MZ B cells. Notch2/Dll1-regulated genes included both Myc-dependent and Myc-independent cohorts, with the latter highly enriched for integrin and chemotactic receptor genes including S1pr1, shown previously to guide B cells towards the MZ across the marginal sinus. Myc itself was dispensable for MZ B cell positioning and retention in the spleen. Without S1pr1, B cells experienced Notch signaling within B cell follicles even without entering the MZ. Unlike wild-type B cells, mislocalized S1pr1-deficient MZ-like B cells were retained in the spleen upon Notch deprivation (Figure 1B). These findings identify splenic B cell follicles and not the MZ as a central hub for stroma-driven Dll1/Notch2 signaling, with Notch empowering subsequent B cell migration and positioning to the MZ through a Myc-independent transcriptional program. As many Notch-regulated transcriptional targets are conserved in human Notch-driven B cell lymphomas, we speculate that principles of stroma-driven Notch signaling and its downstream effects in B cells have been conserved during evolution from mouse to human B cells - with the Notch signature tagging the B cell subsets that rely on conserved Notch programs and the B cell malignancies that hijack them.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame distilled prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. Learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and 10,348 direct Gemma labels. Candidate is the union of thresholded teacher heads; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels or direct frontier model labels.
Codex and Gemma teacher scores by category
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one teacher head, not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".