Human immune organoids to decode B cell response in healthy donors and patients with lymphoma

  • Nat Mater. 2025 Feb;24(2):297-311. doi: 10.1038/s41563-024-02037-1.
Zhe Zhong  1  2  3 Manuel Quiñones-Pérez  1  3 Zhonghao Dai  1  3 Valeria M Juarez  1  3 Eshant Bhatia  1  3 Christopher R Carlson  1  3 Shivem B Shah  4 Anjali Patel  3 Zhou Fang  1  3 Thomas Hu  1  3 Mayar Allam  1  3 Sakeenah L Hicks  5 Mansi Gupta  5 Sneh Lata Gupta  6 Ethan Weeks  2 Stephanie D Vagelos  7 Alejandro Molina  8 Adriana Mulero-Russe  1  9 Ana Mora-Boza  1  2 Devyani J Joshi  6 Rafick P Sekaly  6 Todd Sulchek  1  2 Steven L Goudy  3  10 Jens Wrammert  6 Krishnendu Roy  11 Jeremy M Boss  5  6 Ahmet F Coskun  1  3 Christopher D Scharer  5 Andrés J García  1  2 Jean L Koff  12 Ankur Singh  13  14  15
Affiliations
  • 1. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 2. George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 3. Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 4. Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
  • 5. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 6. Emory Vaccine Center, Emory School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 7. School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 8. School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 9. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 10. Department of Otolaryngology, Emory School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 11. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
  • 12. Winship Cancer Center, Emory School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • 13. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. [email protected].
  • 14. George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. [email protected].
  • 15. Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. [email protected].
Abstract

Antibodies are produced when naive B cells differentiate into plasma cells within germinal centres (GCs) of lymphoid tissues. Patients with B cell lymphoma on effective immunotherapies exhibit diminished antibody production, leading to higher Infection rates and reduced vaccine efficacy, even after B cell recovery. Current ex vivo models fail to sustain long-term GC reactions and effectively test B cell responses. Here we developed synthetic hydrogels mimicking the lymphoid tissue microenvironment, enabling human GCs from tonsils and peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived B cells. Immune organoids derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells maintain GC B cells and plasma cells longer than tonsil-derived ones and exhibit unique B cell programming, including GC compartments, somatic hypermutation, immunoglobulin class switching and B cell clones. Chemical inhibition of transcriptional and epigenetic processes enhances plasma cell formation. While integrating polarized CXCL12 protein in a lymphoid organ-on-chip modulates GC responses in healthy donor B cells, it fails with B cells derived from patients with lymphoma. Our system allows rapid, controlled modelling of immune responses and B cell disorders.

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