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B-cell activation with CD40L or CpG measures the function of B-cell subsets and identifies specific defects in immunodeficient patients.
Eur J Immunol. 2016 Nov 1;:
Authors: Marasco E, Farroni C, Cascioli S, Marcellini V, Scarsella M, Giorda E, Mortari EP, Leonardi L, Scarselli A, Valentini D, Cancrini C, Duse M, Grimsholm O, Carsetti R
Abstract
Around 65% of primary immunodeficiencies are antibody deficiencies. Functional tests are useful tools to study B-cell functions in vitro. However, no accepted guidelines for performing and evaluating functional tests have been issued yet. Here, we report our experience on the study of B-cell functions in infancy and throughout childhood. We show that T-independent stimulation with CpG measures proliferation and differentiation potential of memory B cells. Switched memory B cells respond better than IgM memory B cells. On the other hand, CD40L, a T-dependent stimulus, does not induce plasma cell differentiation, but causes proliferation of naïve and memory B cells. During childhood, the production of plasmablasts in response to CpG increases with age mirroring the development of memory B cells. The response to CD40L does not change with age. In patients with selective IgA deficiency (SIgAD), we observed that switched memory B cells are reduced due to the absence of IgA memory B cells. In agreement, IgA plasma cells are not generated in response to CpG. Unexpectedly, B cells from SIgAD patients show a reduced proliferative response to CD40L. Our results demonstrate that functional tests are an important tool to assess the functions of the humoral immune system. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
PMID: 27800605 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
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