News Finding: DN2 cells appear to be precursors to the plasmablasts that produce autoreactive antibodies, which cause so much trouble for people with lupus.
Paper Finding: Consistently, we found in the current study, an increased frequency of 9G4 + B cells in DN2 cells relative to SWM cells and in aNAV relative to resting naive (Figures S1A and S1B).
News Context: In the current study, the researchers observed that the frequency of DN2 cells was greater in African American patients. DN2 cells appear to be precursors to the plasmablasts that produce autoreactive antibodies, which cause so much trouble for people with lupus. In general, we can think of plasmablasts as weapon factories, and B cells as a library of blueprints for various antibodies/weapons.
Paper Context: The frequency of 9G4 + cells is increased among aNAV cells in flaring SLE and in global DN cells . Consistently, we found in the current study, an increased frequency of 9G4 + B cells in DN2 cells relative to SWM cells and in aNAV relative to resting naive (Figures S1A and S1B). PC1 genes highly expressed in SLE included the transcription factors (TF) STAT1 and STAT2 and other interferon regulated genes ( Figure S2C ).