Plasma cells articles from across Nature Portfolio

Inflammatory memory cues initiated by neutrophils and bone marrow stroma suggest potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Autoantibody production is a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here, the authors demonstrate that antibody-secreting cells from patients with SLE display features of premature maturation and increased survival, which are mediated by intrinsic and extrinsic programmes including autocrine APRIL.

In this Progress article, Fooksman and colleagues review recent advances in the study of long-lived plasma cells, using genetic labelling tools, RNA sequencing and in vivo imaging to characterize the differentiation and survival of this rare cell type in mice and humans.

Linking proteins secreted from individual cells with other cellular information is challenging. Here, authors report a high-throughput method which uses hydrogel nanovials loaded with single cells to link the secretion profile of individual cells with their surface markers and transcriptomic data.

The dysfunction of IL-10 secreting regulatory B cells has been linked to the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease. Here the authors show that low dose IL-2 therapy can enhance IL-10 production in regulatory B cell populations via the modulation of BACH2.

Class switch recombination (CSR) is a process by which B cells switch their immunoglobulin isotype and develop pathogen-eliminating antibodies. Here, the authors show that a protein kinase DYRK1A is required for protection from viral infection through the regulation of CSR and effective clonal expansion.

Plasma cells are terminally differentiated B cells that are specialized for antibody secretion. Authors show here that genomic deletion of the p38α mitogen activated protein kinase specifically in the B cell lineage leads to diminished plasma cell differentiation via impairment of a transcriptional regulatory program by BLIMP1.

Inflammatory memory cues initiated by neutrophils and bone marrow stroma suggest potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Plasma cells use P2RX4 to sense the regulated release of ATP from osteoblasts and this protects against ER stress-driven apoptosis.

Anatomical separation exists between the generation and lodging sites of plasma cells. Transcriptome analysis of tissue-resident plasma cells provides important insights into how newly generated plasma cells acquire longevity.

By combining single-cell mRNA sequencing and a genetic pulse–chase mouse model, we identified multiple subsets of mouse long-lived plasma cells and showed that these cells can originate from diverse developmental routes.

An enduring antibody response is ultimately dependent on the generation and maintenance of long-lived plasma cells. New research describes the use of single-cell transcriptomics approaches to reveal the defining features of longevity in plasma cells.