Wei Chungwen, Jenks Scott, Sanz Iñaki
Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and Lowance Center for Human Immunology, Emory University, 615 Michael Street, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Arthritis Res Ther. 2015 Mar 5;17(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s13075-015-0561-1.
B cells are central players in multiple autoimmune rheumatic diseases as a result of the imbalance between pathogenic and protective B-cell functions, which are presumably mediated by distinct populations. Yet the functional role of different B-cell populations and the contribution of specific subsets to disease pathogenesis remain to be fully understood owing to a large extent to the use of pauci-color flow cytometry. Despite its limitations, this approach has been instrumental in providing a global picture of multiple B-cell abnormalities in multiple human rheumatic diseases, more prominently systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. Accordingly, these studies represent the focus of this review. In addition, we also discuss the added value of tapping into the potential of polychromatic flow cytometry to unravel a higher level of B-cell heterogeneity, provide a more nuanced view of B-cell abnormalities in disease and create the foundation for a precise understanding of functional division of labor among the different phenotypic subsets. State-of-the-art polychromatic flow cytometry and novel multidimensional analytical approaches hold tremendous promise for our understanding of disease pathogenesis, the generation of disease biomarkers, patient stratification and personalized therapeutic approaches.
由于致病性B细胞功能和保护性B细胞功能之间的失衡，B细胞在多种自身免疫性风湿性疾病中起着核心作用，这种失衡可能由不同的细胞群介导。然而，由于在很大程度上使用的是少色流式细胞术，不同B细胞群的功能作用以及特定亚群对疾病发病机制的贡献仍有待充分了解。尽管存在局限性，但这种方法有助于全面了解多种人类风湿性疾病中多种B细胞异常情况，在系统性红斑狼疮、类风湿关节炎和干燥综合征中表现得更为突出。因此，这些研究是本综述的重点。此外，我们还讨论了利用多色流式细胞术的潜力所带来的附加价值，以揭示更高水平的B细胞异质性，更细致地了解疾病中的B细胞异常情况，并为精确理解不同表型亚群之间的功能分工奠定基础。最先进的多色流式细胞术和新颖的多维分析方法在我们理解疾病发病机制、生成疾病生物标志物、患者分层和个性化治疗方法方面具有巨大潜力。
