Poster presentationIL-21 and BAFF/BLyS synergize in stimulating plasma cell differentiation from human marginal zone B cells as well as from circulating peripheral blood B cells from autoimmune patientsRachel Ettinger, Stefan Kuchen, Gary P Sims, Rachel Robbins, David Withers, Randy T Fischer and Peter E Lipsky Autoimmunity Branch, NIAMS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA 6 th Global Arthritis Research Network (GARN) Meeting Zurich, Switzerland. 10–13 May 2007 Arthritis Research & Therapy 2007,
9(Suppl 3):P8doi:10.1186/ar2234 The electronic version of this abstract is the complete one and can be found online at: http://arthritis-research.com/content/9/S3/P8
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19 October 2007 |
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2007 BioMed Central Ltd Poster presentationIL-21 promotes plasma cell (PC) differentiation while BAFF promotes B-cell survival. Here, we report that IL-21 synergizes with BAFF to elicit BLIMP-1 induction, PC differentiation and IgG production from a novel population of human splenic memory B cells. These human marginal zone analogue B cells are exquisitely sensitive to IL-21 and BAFF in the absence of further co-stimulation. The ability of IgG+ marginal zone analogue to respond specifically and exclusively to IL-21 and BAFF demonstrates that they are uniquely poised to respond to antigen-independent signals and differentiate into IgG-producing PC, thereby replenishing serologic memory. Importantly, peripheral blood B cells from a portion of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis were highly responsive to stimulation with IL-21 and BAFF. These data suggest that IL-21 and BAFF may be capable of inducing PC differentiation from memory B cells with autoreactive specificities and thereby contribute to autoimmunity.
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