Bridging local and system-wide autoreactive, extrafollicular b cell signatures in a TLR7-driven model

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded Emory University $100,228 on November 18, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855).

The award funds research into autoreactive, extrafollicular B cell pathways in a TLR7-driven murine model. The project addresses gaps in understanding the origins of extrafollicular effector B cells and the system-wide and microenvironmental signaling that drives their differentiation. Recent studies have identified extrafollicular B cell activation as a key pathway in autoimmune disease onset—including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus—that can proceed independently of germinal center infrastructure. This alternative activation pathway leads to accelerated antibody-secreting cell formation and higher propensity for autoreactive B cell production. The research utilizes a TLR7 agonist (R848) in a murine model to bridge local and system-wide autoreactive B cell signatures.

Performance runs from November 18, 2026, through June 9, 2029, with work conducted in Atlanta, Georgia. Emory University's Office of Sponsored Programs Division, a major recipient of federal research funding across biomedical sciences and infectious diseases, serves as the recipient institution.

Abstract

A substantial body of literature has described the development of autoreactive humoral responses in the context of autoimmune disease and recently discerned an exciting new avenue for investigation. While early work focused on canonical mechanisms of activation through the germinal center (GC) response, recent studies have found GC infrastructure to be dispensable for the onset of chronic autoimmunity. IT has become clear that an alternative pathway of b cell activation, the extrafollicular (EF) pathway, can drive the onset of new autoreactivity in multiple human disorders including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In comparison to the GC pathway, the EF pathway represents a less stringent method for b cell activation, leads to accelerated antibody-secreting cell (ASC) formation, and thus has a higher propensity for the production of autoreactive b cell effectors and ascs. Recently, our group has identified a similar skew toward the EF response in the context of severe viral infection, tied to acute tolerance loss, increased disease severity, and complicated recovery from infection. These findings highlight how further study of the EF response is crucial to our understanding of autoimmune induction across multiple areas of disease. Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) stimulation has been identified as a key contributor to EF b cell development in SLE, and several studies have now linked TLR7 overstimulation to chronic autoimmune disease. While EF effector b cell populations have now been identified in both murine models and humans, substantial gaps in our knowledge remain to be answered concerning i) the origins of these cells and II) the system-wide and microenvironmental signaling and organization that drive this differentiation pathway. We propose to address these gaps, here, by utilizing a TLR7 agonist (R848) in a murine model to characterize the autoreactive response within the blood and draining lymph node through innovative high-throughput analytical techniques. Systemic shifts in proteomic signatures and immune cell phenotype will be monitored in the blood throughout the induction of autoreactivity, using novel applications of machine-learning based classification. These signatures will then be connected to developing inflammatory microenvironments identified within the draining lymph node by applying a customized set of software tools to spatial transcriptomic data. This work will deepen our understanding of the immunologic mechanisms by which the EF pathway can lead to "run-away" autoreactive b cell development, with the added potential for identification of early blood-based biomarkers for this developing autoreactivity. The above proposed work will provide an ideal training opportunity for the candidate to develop experience with advanced immunologic laboratory techniques, rigorous bioinformatic analysis, a systems-level view of immunology, and scientific communication. The woodruff and sanz labs are highly experienced within the autoimmune disease space with extensive experience with the required techniques and established routes for clinical collaboration to act on these findings.