Loss of RUNX1 function results in B cell immunodeficiency but not T cell in adult Zebrafish

Abstract

Transcription factor RUNX1 holds an integral role in multiple-lineage haematopoiesis and is implicated as a cofactor in V(D)J rearrangements during lymphocyte development. Runx1 deficiencies resulted in immaturity and reduction of lymphocytes in mice. In this study, we found that runx1W84X/W84X mutation led to the reduction and disordering of B cells, as well as the failure of V(D)J rearrangements in B cells but not T cells, resulting in antibodyinadequate-mediated immunodeficiency in adult zebrafish. By contrast, T cell development was not affected. The decreased number of B cells mainly results fromexcessive apoptosis inimmatureBcells.DisruptedBcelldevelopment results in runx1W84X/W84X mutants displaying a similar phenotype to common variable immunodeficiency-a primary immunodeficiency disease primarily characterized by frequent susceptibility to infection and deficient immune response, with marked reduction of antibody production of IgG, IgA and/or IgM. Our studies demonstrated an evolutionarily conserved function of runx1 in maturation and differentiation of B cells in adult zebrafish, which will serve as a valuable model for the study of immune deficiency diseases and their treatments. © 2018 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.