Distinct phenotypes of plasma cells in spleen and bone marrow of autoimmune NOD.B10.H2b mice

Abstract

Long-lived plasma cells (PCs) residing in the bone marrow (BM) are important producers of protective antibodies. However, when reacting against self-antigens, these PCs produce autoantibodies that contribute to progression of autoimmune diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome (SS). By using a murine model of primary SS, the NOD.B10.H2b mice, we characterized phenotype and generation of PCs at different stages of the pSS disease progression. In general, the PC population found in the NOD.B10.H2b mice expressed high amounts of MHCII, IgG, and BrdU. We further demonstrate the presence of both short- and long-lived PCs in autoimmune spleen and in autoimmune BM. A long-lived PC subset was also found in the spleen and BM of non-autoimmune BALB/c mice, which have not been treated with any immunological agent. Quantitative investigation of splenic and BM PCs revealed that in the NOD.B10.H2 mice, splenic PCs migrate not only to the BM but possibly also to the sites of inflammation. Finally, BM in the aged NOD.B10.H2b mice (40-week-old) presented significantly higher quantities of long-lived PCs than BM of BALB/c mice.

Keywords::

• Plasma cells
• long-lived plasma cells
• autoimmunity
• Sjögren's syndrome
• NOD.B10.H2b mice

Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank Kjerstin Jakobsen and Marianne Eidsheim for technical assistance.

Declaration of interest: This work was supported by the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, the L. Meltzer Foundation, the Strategic Research Program at Helse Bergen, the Western Regional Health Authority, and the Broegelmann Foundation. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.