Gao Xin, Lin Lin, Yu Di
China-Australia Centre for Personalised Immunology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1707:111-119. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7474-0_8.
Upon priming by antigens, B cells undergo activation, proliferation, and differentiation into antibody-secreting cells. During thymus-dependent (TD) antibody responses, the proliferation and differentiation of antigen-primed B cells essentially rely on the helper function from CD4 T cells. Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells constitute a specialized Th subset that localizes in close proximity to B cells and supports B cell proliferation and differentiation through co-stimulatory receptors and cytokines. Impaired Tfh-mediated B cell proliferation and differentiation were observed in patients with immunodeficiency, while overactivation of this process may lead to dysregulated immune responses seen in autoimmune disorders. Here, we describe an ex vivo coculture assay using circulating Tfh cells and B cells isolated from human blood. This method can be used to examine the function of patients' B cells for proliferation, differentiation, and antibody secretion, mediated by the physiological help from Tfh cells.
在受到抗原刺激后，B细胞会经历激活、增殖，并分化为抗体分泌细胞。在胸腺依赖性（TD）抗体反应过程中，抗原刺激的B细胞的增殖和分化主要依赖于CD4 T细胞的辅助功能。滤泡辅助性T（Tfh）细胞是一种特殊的Th亚群，定位于靠近B细胞的位置，并通过共刺激受体和细胞因子支持B细胞的增殖和分化。免疫缺陷患者中观察到Tfh介导的B细胞增殖和分化受损，而这一过程的过度激活可能导致自身免疫性疾病中出现的免疫反应失调。在此，我们描述了一种使用从人血中分离的循环Tfh细胞和B细胞进行的体外共培养试验。该方法可用于检测患者B细胞在Tfh细胞的生理辅助作用下进行增殖、分化和抗体分泌的功能。
