Balancing lipid synthesis and oxidation promotes B cell response to vaccination in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients

The mechanisms by which immunosuppressive therapies disrupt human B cell responses remain poorly defined. Here, we identified dysregulated lipid metabolism as a central determinant of impaired vaccine response in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs).

We performed 10x genomics single cell RNA sequencing on isolated B cells from SOTRs and healthy controls before and after a third COVID-19 vaccine dose. The widely used immunosuppressive agent, mycophenolic acid (MPA) was strongly associated with vaccine non-response and induced excessive lipid synthesis, lipid accumulation, and mitochondrial stress in B cells.