Dynamic changes in humoral immunity and single-cell BCR repertoire after rabies vaccination: a prospective study

Rabies is a lethal zoonotic disease that is caused by the rabies virus (RABV). Although vaccines have been widely used, the dynamic characteristics of humoral immunity are still unclear. Here, we collected the blood in volunteers vaccinated with RABV vaccine in Essen regime, and the RABV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) were detected for immunogenicity evaluation, and B cells were determined by single-cell sequencing. The results showed that RABV-IgG rose continuously after the fourth and fifth doses of vaccine, while nAbs reached the peak after the third. Analogously, the memory B cells presented an increasing trend, whereas amplified B cells mainly occurred on 14 and 28 days. The functional module related antibody productions distinctly upregulated, and some genes such as JUNB and BACH2, etc. changed significantly among four identified B cell subsets. Further, the omics analysis revealed memory B cells underwent rapid clonal expansion and somatic mutations promoting recognition of antibody spectrum patterns under vaccine stimulation. Overall, this study provides a novel insight for understanding of immune responses provoking by multi-vaccination, and benefit to explore the reduction of vaccination frequency.