Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Interacting Protein Maintains Germinal Center B Cells through Suppression of BCL6 Degradation
Sun D., Stopka-Farooqui U., Barry S., Aksoy E., Parsonage G., Vossenkämper A., Capasso M., Wan X., Norris S., Marshall JL., Clear A., Gribben J., MacDonald TT., Buckley CD., Korbonits M., Haworth O.
© 2019 The Authors B cell lymphoma-6 (BCL6) is highly expressed in germinal center B cells, but how its expression is maintained is still not completely clear. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) is a co-chaperone of heat shock protein 90. Deletion of Aip in B cells decreased BCL6 expression, reducing germinal center B cells and diminishing adaptive immune responses. AIP was required for optimal AKT signaling in response to B cell receptor stimulation, and AIP protected BCL6 from ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation by the E3-ubiquitin ligase FBXO11 by binding to the deubiquitinase UCHL1, thus helping to maintain the expression of BCL6. AIP was highly expressed in primary diffuse large B cell lymphomas compared to healthy tissue and other tumors. Our findings describe AIP as a positive regulator of BCL6 expression with implications for the pathobiology of diffuse large B cell lymphoma.