PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Nimitha R. Mathew
AU  - Jayalal K. Jayanthan
AU  - Ilya Smirnov
AU  - Jonathan L. Robinson
AU  - Hannes Axelsson
AU  - Sravya S. Nakka
AU  - Aikaterini Emmanouilidi
AU  - Paulo Czarnewski
AU  - William T. Yewdell
AU  - Cristina Lebrero-Fernández
AU  - Valentina Bernasconi
AU  - Ali M. Harandi
AU  - Nils Lycke
AU  - Nicholas Borcherding
AU  - Jonathan W. Yewdell
AU  - Victor Greiff
AU  - Mats Bemark
AU  - Davide Angeletti
TI  - Single cell BCR and transcriptome analysis after respiratory virus infection reveals spatiotemporal dynamics of antigen-specific B cell responses
AID  - 10.1101/2020.08.24.264069
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.08.24.264069
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/24/2020.08.24.264069.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/24/2020.08.24.264069.full
AB  - B cell responses are a critical component of anti-viral immunity. However, a comprehensive picture of antigen-specific B cell responses, differentiation, clonal proliferation and dynamics in different organs after infection is lacking. Here, we combined single-cell RNA sequencing with single-cell B cell receptor (BCR) characterization of antigen-specific cells in the draining lymph nodes, spleen and lungs after influenza infection. We identify several novel B cell subpopulations forming after infection and find organ-specific differences that persist over the course of the response. We discover important transcriptional differences between memory cells in lungs and lymphoid organs and describe organ-restricted clonal expansion. Strikingly, by combining BCR mutational analysis, monoclonal antibody expression and affinity measurements we find no differences between germinal center (GC)-derived memory and plasmacells, at odds with an affinity-based selection model. By linking antigen-recognition with transcriptional programming, clonal-proliferation and differentiation, these finding provide important advances in our understanding of antiviral B cell immunity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.