Elucidation of the acquisition mechanism of a long life in plasma cells

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K15714
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Immunology
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (2018); Tohoku University (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Itoh-Nakadai Ari 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 生命医科学研究センター, 研究員 (90749772)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 獲得免疫 / 長期生存形質細胞 / 骨髄形質細胞 / 脾臓形質細胞 / メタロチオネイン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) reside in bone marrow (BM) and provide long-term defense against infection. However, the mechanism of the longevity of LLPCs is not fully understood. To explore the difference between tissue specific plasma cells, we performed single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) analysis on plasma cells from bone marrow and spleen. In order to eliminate false positive results due to difference in isotypes, we separated cells into IgG and IgA in scRNA-seq analysis, and investigated their profiles of gene expression between bone marrow and spleen. We found that metabolism- and ribosomal RNA biogenesis-related genes were significantly enriched in bone marrow plasma cells compared to that of the spleen. We also observed that several metal binding factor genes had high expression in bone marrow plasma cells. These results suggest that the characteristic of plasma cells varies from tissue to tissue.

Free Research Field

免疫学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

一度感染症にかかれば二度と同じ感染症に罹患することがない、「免疫記憶」の柱の一つは、骨髄に存在して長期生存し、抗体を産生し続ける形質細胞である。我々は、骨髄に存在する長期生存形質細胞と、脾臓に存在する短寿命形質細胞、一つ一つの遺伝子発現を比較し、その違いを抽出した。その結果、骨髄に存在する形質細胞は、脾臓に存在する形質細胞に比べて、抗体産生能や細胞のストレス低減に寄与する遺伝子群の発現が高いことがわかった。長寿命形質細胞の性質を知ることは、抗体関連疾患であるアレルギーや自己免疫疾患の治療法につながる可能性がある。