Abstract
T cell-dependent B cell responses typically develop in germinal centers. Abs generated during such responses are isotype switched and have a high affinity to the Ag because of somatic hypermutation of Ab genes. B cell responses to purified polysaccharides are T cell independent and do not result in the formation of bona fide germinal centers, and the dominant Ab isotype produced during such responses is IgM with very few or no somatic mutations. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is required for both somatic hypermutation and Ig isotype switching in humans and mice. To test the extent to which unmutated polysaccharide-specific IgM confers protective immunity, we immunized wildtype and AID(-/-) mice with either heat-killed Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) or purified Vi polysaccharide (ViPS). We found that wildtype and AID(-/-) mice immunized with heat-killed S. Typhi generated similar anti-ViPS IgM responses. As expected, wildtype, but not AID(-/-) mice generated ViPS-specific IgG. However, the differences in the Ab-dependent killing of S. Typhi mediated by the classical pathway of complement activation were not statistically significant. In ViPS-immunized wildtype and AID(-/-) mice, the ViPS-specific IgM levels and S. Typhi bactericidal Ab titers at 7 but not at 28 d postimmunization were also comparable. To test the protective immunity conferred by these immunizations, mice were challenged with a chimeric S. Typhimurium strain expressing ViPS. Compared with their naive counterparts, immunized wildtype and AID(-/-) mice exhibited significantly reduced bacterial burden regardless of the route of infection. These data indicate that an unmutated IgM response to ViPS contributes to protective immunity to S. Typhi.