Toll-Like Receptor 9 Stimulation Induces Aberrant Expression of a Proliferation-Inducing Ligand by Tonsillar Germinal Center B Cells in IgA Nephropathy.

ABSTRACT: The TNF family member a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL; also known as TNFSF13), produced by myeloid cells, participates in the generation and survival of antibody-producing plasma cells. We studied the potential role of APRIL in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We found that a significant proportion of germinal centers (GCs) in tonsils of patients with IgAN contained cells aberrantly producing APRIL, contributing to an overall upregulation of tonsillar APRIL expression compared with that in tonsils of control patients with tonsillitis. In IgAN GC, antigen-experienced IgD^-CD38^+/-CD19⁺ B cells expressing a switched IgG/IgA B cell receptor produced APRIL. Notably, these GC B cells expressed mRNA encoding the common cleavable APRIL-α but

SUBMITTER: Muto M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5373453 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature