Mir-17–92 regulates bone marrow homing of plasma cells and production of immunoglobulin G2c

The polycistronic mir-17–92 cluster, also known as oncomir-1, was previously shown to be essential for early B lymphopoiesis. However, its role in late-stage B-cell differentiation and function remains unexplored. Here we ablate mir-17–92 in mature B cells and demonstrate that mir-17–92 is dispensable for conventional B-cell development in the periphery. Interestingly, mir-17–92-deficiency in B cells leads to enhanced homing of plasma cells to the bone marrow during T-cell-dependent immune response and selectively impairs IgG2c production. Mechanistically, mir-17–92 directly represses the expression of Sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 and transcription factor IKAROS, which are, respectively, important for plasma cell homing and IgG2c production. We further show that deletion of mir-17–92 could reduce IgG2c anti-DNA autoantibody production and hence mitigate immune complex glomerulonephritis in Shp1-deficient mice prone to autoimmunity. Our results identify important roles for mir-17–92 in the regulation of peripheral B-cell function.