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From blood to tissue: take a deeper look at B cells in lupus

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 18, pages 2073–2074 (2021)Cite this article

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A hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is aberrant B-cell differentiation and function, and the pathogenic roles of B cells are multifaceted. In addition to producing autoantibodies, lupus B cells actively take part in antigen presentation, costimulation, and immune regulation. Therapeutics targeting B cells, plasma cells, or their differentiation pathways have been developed, but the efficacies are highly variable, indicating that B cells have a complex and heterogeneous nature in the pathogenesis of SLE.1 Current knowledge on lupus B cells is mainly derived from cells isolated from the blood; with newly developed single-cell and omics technologies, it is time to extend the B-cell studies to affected organs.

Peripheral blood B cells are composed of transitional, naive, unswitched, and class-switched memory B cells, as well as antibody-secreting cells (ASCs, including plasmablasts and plasma cells). The B-cell compartment is heavily disturbed in lupus patients and is characterized by increased proportions of transitional B cells,2,3 atypical memory B cells (AtMs),4,5,6 and ASCs,5,6,7 and a decreased proportion of unswitched memory B cells.8

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Acknowledgements

X.Z. is supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (No. XDB29030302), Frontier Science Key Research Project (No. QYZDB-SSW-SMC036), Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31770960). Q.F. is supported by the development fund for Shanghai talents (No. 2019092) and Shanghai Sailing Program (No. 20YF1425800).

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  1. Department of Rheumatology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Qiong Fu

  2. The Center for Microbes, Development and Health, Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

    Xiaoming Zhang

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Correspondence to Qiong Fu or Xiaoming Zhang.

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Fu, Q., Zhang, X. From blood to tissue: take a deeper look at B cells in lupus. Cell Mol Immunol 18, 2073–2074 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-021-00713-9

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