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Review
. 2018 Jun;38(2):251-258.
doi: 10.1097/WNO.0000000000000642.

Multiple Sclerosis: B Cells Take Center Stage

Anne-Katrin Pröbstel  1 , Stephen L Hauser
Affiliations
Review

Multiple Sclerosis: B Cells Take Center Stage

Anne-Katrin Pröbstel et al. J Neuroophthalmol. 2018 Jun.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest:

A.-K.P. received travel reimbursement from Genzyme, Baxalta and Merck and speaker honoraria from Bayer used for research support S.L.H. serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Annexon, Bionure, Symbiotix, and Molecular Stethoscope, and on the Board of Trustees of Neurona; and also reports receiving travel reimbursement and writing assistance from F. Hoffmann-La Roche for CD20-related meetings and presentations.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. A neurotropic view of B cell trafficking and function in autoimmunity
Multifunctional B cells evolve through a series of differentiation stages, from stem cells to antibody-producing plasma cells. B cells are potent antigen-presenting cells; participate in antigen transport; produce a range of pro-inflammatory and regulatory cytokines; and secrete antibodies that have undergone affinity maturation in germinal centers of lymphoid structures. In addition to these roles in adaptive immunity, B cells are also important players in innate immunity primarily through signaling via TLRs, a family of receptors that can recognize DAMPs and PAMPs. In chronic MS, memory B cells and plasma cells also accumulate in protected follicle-like structures located in the meninges and perivascular spaces. All of these functions of B cells may contribute to the effects of B cell depletion on disease activity in MS. As shown, B cell-depleting therapies targeted against CD20 and CD19 eliminate distinct B cell subpopulations. Abbreviations: B = B cell, APC = antigen presenting cell, BCR = B cell receptor, CSF = cerebrospinal fluid, DAMPs = damage-associated molecular pattern molecules, GM-CSF = granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor, IL = interleukin, LT-α = lymphotoxin-alpha, MHC = major histocompatibility complex, P = plasma cell, M = microglia/monocytes, PAMPs = pathogen-associated molecular pattern molecules, T = T cell, TCR = T cell receptor, TLR = toll-like receptor, TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor alpha.
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