B Cells and Immune Diseases

Defining the role of B cells in systemic autoimmunity has been instrumental in characterizing the impact of B cell depletion (BCD) on the human immune system and establishing B cell targeted therapies. This has been a major advance in the field of immunologic disease with broad implications in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, diabetes, malignancy, and immune deficiency.

Findings demonstrating a link between the clinical response and the immunologic reconstitution with transitional B cells was the first delineation of a B regulatory cell population in humans, greatly advancing our understanding of BCD therapy and human B cell development pathways. A prominent publication defining new populations of human transitional B cells provided further fundamental insights into the developmental process followed by human B cells, identifying a new population of human transitional B cells. Recent work has elucidated a previously unrecognized cross-talk between the B cell compartment and neutrophil driven α interferon production in the bone marrow in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that alters B cell development and selection, as well as a critical role for B cells in regulation of bone homeostasis in RA.