Researchers discover new type of memory B cell that remembers allergies

The cell could be a target for new immunotherapies for the chronic disease

Researchers from McMaster University and the pharmaceutical company ALK-Abello have discovered a new type of cell that remembers allergies.

Published in Science Translational Medicine, the new discovery could lead to new immunotherapies to treat allergies.

B cells are a type of immune cell that produces antibodies that help fight off infections. However, they can also cause allergies, a common chronic disease.

The new cell, type-2 memory B cell (MBC2), contains “unique characteristics and a unique gene signature that has not been described before,” explained Josh Koenig, assistant professor, department of medicine, McMaster University.

Because of this cell, the immune system will remember the allergy and will create more of the antibodies that make the body allergic the more it encounters it.

Researchers created tetramers, a fluorescent molecule, using allergens including Birch pollen and peanuts to locate difficult-to-find memory B cells.

The team then further leveraged samples gathered from ALK clinical trials with tablet sublingual immunotherapy, which allows for sequencing large amounts of IgE, a type of antibody that triggers allergic reactions and produces B cells.

Koenig said: “We found allergic people had this memory B cell against their allergen, but non-allergic people had very few, if any.”

Researchers were able to discover a connection between MBC2 and IgE using cutting-edge technology, including single-cell transcriptomics and deep sequencing of antibody gene repertoires on clinical trial samples, to reveal the source of the allergy in MBC2.

The new discovery offers a new target for scientists and researchers to treat allergies, which could potentially lead to new therapeutics.

Kelly Burton, postdoctoral fellow, Standford University who co-led the research, explained that there are two possible therapeutic approaches: “The first is targeting those MBC2s and eliminating them from an allergic person” and the second is “changing their function and [having] them do something that’s not going to be ultimately harmful when the individual is exposed to the allergen”.

“These are the types of discoveries that you really need to make in order to develop the right therapeutics to block the right cells to stop the disease,” added Koenig.