Decreased BAFF Receptor Expression and Unaltered B Cell Receptor Signaling in Circulating B Cells from Primary Sjogren's Syndrome Patients at Diagnosis.

ABSTRACT: Animal models of autoimmunity and human genetic association studies indicate that the dysregulation of B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling is an important driver of autoimmunity. We previously showed that in circulating B cells from primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients with high systemic disease activity, protein expression of the BCR signaling molecule Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) was increased and correlated with T-cell infiltration in the target organ. We hypothesized that these alterations could be driven by increased B-cell activating factor (BAFF) levels in pSS. Here, we investigated whether altered BCR signaling was already present at diagnosis and distinguished pSS from non-SS sicca patients. Using (phospho-)flow cytometry, we quantified the phosphorylation of BCR signaling mole

SUBMITTER: Neys SFH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9103204 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature