Immunobiology
James Knox, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Disclosure(s): No relevant disclosure to display
Ziaur Rahman, MD, PhD
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose
Betty Tsao, PhD
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC, United States
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose
Many rheumatological diseases are characterized by the generation of pathogenic autoantibodies that promote tissue injury. Pathogenic autoantibody secreting B cells will undergo differentiation in germinal centers (GCs) or extrafollicular sites (EF) within secondary lymphoid organs. B cells arising from these sites can take the form of different types of autoantibody-producing B cells, such as conventional memory B cells, double negative B cells, and plasma cells (PCs). The processes leading to autoantibody secreting B cell differentiation will be explored. How the different antibody secreting B cells then contribute to different aspects of disease pathology is beginning to be elucidated. In this session, speakers will discuss some of these different B cell populations and how they contribute to the pathology in the context of autoimmunity. These talks will illuminate how understanding the role of different B cells in autoimmunity can lead to the discovery of potent therapeutics targeting specific B cell subsets.
Speaker: Ziaur Rahman, MD, PhD – Thomas Jefferson University
Speaker: James Knox, PhD – University of Pennsylvania
Speaker: Betty Tsao, PhD – Medical University of South Carolina
