Human CD38^hiCD138⁺ Plasma Cells Can Be Generated In Vitro from CD40-Activated Switched-Memory B Lymphocytes

Figure 3

Generation of plasma cells from switched-memory B lymphocytes. Monitoring of plasma cell generation in the differentiation phase was done by flow cytometry and all analyses were done on viable cell populations. The results are presented as the mean ± S.E.M. of 6 independent samples: (a) CD38 and CD138 expression profiles on D0, 5 and 14. D0 being the day that the expanded memory B cells were thawed and were put in culture with CD70⁺ or CD154⁺ cell lines. (b) cells frequency. The comparison of cells frequency at D5 was determined using a Mann-Whitney test, value = 0.0260. For the monitoring of CD138⁺ cells frequency (c), the Kruskal-Wallis test was used and no significant difference was observed. (d) Generated plasma cells morphology at D14 shown by fluorescence microscopy (100x immersion oil objective). Blue: nucleus; red: actin. Representative cells are shown.

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