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Maintenance of Plasma Cell Pool is Independent of Memory B cells
Author(s) -
Ahuja Anupama,
Anderson Shan M.,
Khalil Ashraf,
Shlomchik Mark
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.847.10
Subject(s) - compartment (ship) , memory b cell , b cell , immunology , secretion , titer , spleen , antibody , memory cell , plasma cell , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , chemistry , endocrinology , oceanography , physics , transistor , quantum mechanics , voltage , geology
Humoral memory to an Ag is maintained for several decades in the form of memory B cells and serum Ab. In fact, plasma cells (PC) that secrete Ab are known to be long‐lived and could be solely responsible for maintaining the long‐lived Ab titers. Alternatively, continuous differentiation of memory cells into long‐lived PCs as a result of non‐specific stimulation could account for humoral memory. To test these possibilities, we used a novel mouse model system to deplete Ag‐specific memory B cells with an anti‐hCD20 mAb and determined the effect on the PC compartment over 16 weeks. Using a combination of surface markers, we demonstrated that memory B cells remained depleted over the course of the experiment. However, despite absence of memory cells for an extended duration, PC numbers in spleen and bone marrow did not decline. This indicates that the PC compartment does not require a significant contribution from memory B cells for its maintenance and instead that PCs are sufficiently long‐lived to maintain Ab titers over a long period without renewal. This settles an important controversy in B cell biology and has implications for the design of vaccines and for B cell depletion therapy in patients. Supported by NIH AI43603 and AR44077 to MJS; and Arthritis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to AA.