Impact of Mek1 and Mek2 deletion on the transcriptome of spleen B cell subpopulations

The deletion of Mek1 in mouse hematopoietic cells was performed using the Mek1 conditional allele (Map2k1tm1Chrn) and the Vav1-icre deleter mouse line (Commd10Tg(Vav1-icre)A2Kio) in the Mek2 heterozygous null background (Map2k2tm1Chrn). Mek1flox/flox Mek2+/- Tg+/Vav1-icre mice (named thereafter 1Mek2) die prematurely of lymphoproliferative disorders associated with spontaneous B cell activation and the accumulation of plasma cells, age-associated B cells and germinal center B cells (Houde, N., et al. (2022).

Cell Rep 38(2): 110223). However, how MEK signaling finely regulates immune cell activation is only partially understood. To address this question, we applied bulk RNA-seq assays to characterize the transcriptional impact of the specific loss of MEK protein in B cell subpopulations using the 1Mek2 mutants.