Imprinted antibody lineages can persist for half a century and dominate cross-neutralizing recall responses to poliovirus

Abstract

Humoral immunity depends on a dynamic interplay between circulating polyclonal IgG antibodies and long-lived memory B cells (MBC). To elucidate this relationship, we integrated B-cell receptor sequencing with plasma IgG immunoproteomics to identify and quantify the recall response (plasma IgG and MBC) to inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in eight adults, 24-55 years after their childhood immunization. IPV immunization elicited highly skewed plasma IgG recall repertoires, dominated by a small subset ([~]8%) of total antibody lineages that were detectable prior to boosting (i.e., "pre-existing"). These IgG lineages spiked logarithmically in abundance ([~]102-104 fold-increase) and potently cross-neutralized multiple PV serotypes in vitro (titers [≥] 1:105). Notably, these dominant plasma IgG lineages were clonally linked to class-switched MBCs that circulated in blood 21 days post-boost and bore heavily mutated VH and VL variable region genes. Importantly, IPV-primed ex vivo B-cell cultures (MIMIC, Modular IMmune In vitro Construct) yielded clonal expansions that mirrored the dominant post-boost plasma IgG lineages in vivo, providing an in vitro mechanistic correlate of recall immunity. Together these findings demonstrate a decades-long interconnectivity between persistent MBC clones and the serological IgG repertoire. They further highlight the central role of immunological imprinting, whereby cross-reactive MBC clones--originally primed in childhood--can be reactivated to dominate the circulating IgG recall response more than 50 years after initial exposure.