• Mathieu C Morissette, Yang Gao, Pamela Shen, Danya Thayaparan, Jean-Christophe Bérubé, Peter D Paré, Corry-Anke Brandsma, Ke Hao, Yohan Bossé, Rachel Ettinger, Ronald Herbst, Alison A Humbles, Roland Kolbeck, Nanshan Zhong, Rongchang Chen, and Martin R Stämpfli.
• Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster Immunology Research Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
• Physiol Rep. 2016 Dec 1; 4 (24).

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests that autoimmune processes are implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, we assessed the expression of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) in smokers, and investigated the functional importance of BAFF in the induction and maintenance of cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and tertiary lymphoid tissues (TLTs) using a preclinical mouse model. We observed that BAFF levels were elevated in smokers and mice exposed to cigarette smoke. In mice, BAFF expression was rapidly induced in the lungs following 4 days of cigarette smoke exposure and remained elevated following 8 and 24 weeks of exposure. Alveolar macrophages were the major source of BAFF Blockade of BAFF using a BAFF receptor-Fc (BAFFR-Fc) construct prevented pulmonary ANA and TLT formation when delivered concurrent with cigarette smoke exposure. Under these conditions, no impact on lung inflammation was observed. However, administration of BAFFR-Fc following smoking cessation markedly reduced the number of TLTs and ANA levels and, of note, reduced pulmonary neutrophilia. Altogether, this study shows for the first time a central role of BAFF in the induction and maintenance of cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary ANA and suggests that BAFF blockade following smoking cessation could have beneficial effects on persistent inflammatory processes.In this study, we assessed the expression of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) in smokers, and investigated the functional importance of BAFF in the induction and maintenance of cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and tertiary lymphoid tissues (TLTs) using a preclinical mouse model. Data presented show that BAFF plays a central role in the induction and maintenance of cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary ANA and suggest a therapeutic potential for BAFF blockade in limiting autoimmune processes associated with smoking.© 2016 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

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