The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Lupus B Cell Research Points Toward Targeted Therapies

Lupus B Cell Research Points Toward Targeted Therapies

January 19, 2018 • By Susan Bernstein

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
This figure illustrates immune system cells, including a macrophage, T cell, B cell and antibodies.

This figure illustrates immune system cells, including a macrophage, T cell, B cell and antibodies.
Designua / shutterstock.com

SAN DIEGO—B cell signaling goes awry in many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), triggering pathogenic autoimmune responses and clinical disease. At the Rheumatology Research Foundation’s 2017 Evelyn V. Hess Memorial Lecture, held on Nov. 5 at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, researcher Ignacio Sanz, MD, discussed B cells’ role in this complex disease.

You Might Also Like
  • Is B a Key to Autoimmune Therapy?: B Cell–targeted Therapies in Autoimmune Disease
  • Research Into Causes of Systemic Vasculitis May Lead to Targeted Treatments Say Rheumatologists at the 2013 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting
  • Accelerating Medicines Partnership Targets Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Explore This Issue
January 2018
Also By This Author
  • 2014 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Fat’s Role in Inflammation

Because lupus comprises multiple cell types during disease pathogenesis, and multiple mediators and signaling pathways that may contribute to disease, why do we need to emphasize B cells?

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“Most of the disease risk alleles map to B cell pathways.1 SLE is characterized by multiple autoantibodies in very large amounts, and B cells also play autoantibody-independent functions that can be pathogenic,” including cytokine production, antigen presentation,

T cell activation and formation of tertiary lymphoid tissues, said Dr. Sanz, professor of medicine and pediatrics, chief of rheuma­tology and director of the Lowance Center for Human Immunology at Emory University, Atlanta. It is still unclear whether B cell therapies, such as rituximab, will be effective for some patient groups, such as African Americans with lupus nephritis.2

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

B cell depletion is highly variable in SLE, with two clear patterns: very profound depletion followed by repopulation with new B cells in patients who fare well long term, and “then another pattern [in which] patients might be declared complete B cell depletors by clinical standards, but in fact, they are not, and they tend to repopulate with memory cells and not do well,” said Dr. Sanz. These patients may not respond to such therapies as rituximab, he said. “You can deplete the B cells of a group of patients who are B cell dependent, and they will do well. The challenge is to recognize those patients and then, achieve that degree of depletion.”

Heterogeneous Disease

Researchers typically look at B cells in humans just by surface phenotypes or functional assays that scratch only the surface, said Dr. Sanz. To learn how B cells are programmed, or the mechanisms and directions they follow in the disease process, an immunomics approach works better.

Serum autoantibodies are analyzed in an SLE patient’s blood, kidney tissue, urine and bone marrow, then the researchers sequence the autoantibodies of most interest, including the immunoproteomics that help identify the dominant clones and B cell repertoire involved in disease activity. Through various sequencing techniques, the B cell repertoire is matched with the serum autoantibodies, “so we can understand the different profiles and classes of disease based on B cell signatures,” he said. “Then, we extract RNA and DNA from subsets of interests so we can study their molecular programs transcriptionally and epigenetically.”

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Meeting Reports, SLE (Lupus) Tagged With: ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, Lupus, Research, rheumatologist, rheumatologyIssue: January 2018

You Might Also Like:
  • Is B a Key to Autoimmune Therapy?: B Cell–targeted Therapies in Autoimmune Disease
  • Research Into Causes of Systemic Vasculitis May Lead to Targeted Treatments Say Rheumatologists at the 2013 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting
  • Accelerating Medicines Partnership Targets Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Researchers Target Altered T Cell Metabolism in SLE to Reverse Lupus Immuno-Phenotype

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)