Analysis of regulatory process of plasma cell differentiation by gene regulatory networks

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25460352
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: General medical chemistry
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Muto Akihiko 東北大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (80343292)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 転写因子 / Bach2 / B cell

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Upon antigen exposure, B lymphocytes (B cells), which are responsible for the humoral immune response, finally differentiate to antibody-secreting plasma cells (PCs). During this final differentiation, some B cells undergo class switch recombination (CSR) to switch their immunoglobulin isotype from IgM to IgG and so on. Among individual B cells, it has been believed that PC differentiation and CSR are stochastically regulated by gene regulatory network (GRN). In this study, flowcytometric analysis revealed that proportions of differentiated PCs and CSR were increased in cell division number dependent manner. The levels of Bach2 expression were decreased following cell division. However, after same number of cell divisions, they showed different levels of Bach2 expression. This study revealed that the expression levels of Bach2 affect the status of GRN and determine cell fate by using single cell PCR.

Free Research Field

分子生物学