Antibody-secreting plasma cells persist for decades in human intestine

J Exp Med. 2017 Feb;214(2):309-317. doi: 10.1084/jem.20161590. Epub 2017 Jan 19.

Authors

Ole J B Landsverk¹, Omri Snir², Raquel Bartolomé Casado³, Lisa Richter³, Jeff E Mold⁴, Pedro Réu^{4

5}, Rune Horneland⁶, Vemund Paulsen⁶, Sheraz Yaqub⁷, Einar Martin Aandahl^{8

6}, Ole M Øyen⁶, Hildur Sif Thorarensen⁹, Mehran Salehpour¹⁰, Göran Possnert¹⁰, Jonas Frisén⁴, Ludvig M Sollid¹¹, Espen S Baekkevold³, Frode L Jahnsen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Centre for Immune Regulation, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet and The University of Oslo, 0372 Oslo, Norway ole.jorgen.bjarnason.landsverk@rr-research.no frode.lars.jahnsen@rr-research.no.
² Department of Immunology, Centre for Immune Regulation, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet and The University of Oslo, 0372 Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Pathology, Centre for Immune Regulation, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet and The University of Oslo, 0372 Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, 3000-213 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁶ Department of Transplantation Medicine, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet, 0372 Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet, 0372 Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Nordic European Molecular Biology Laboratory Partnership, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet and The University of Oslo, 0372 Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, 0313 Oslo, Norway.
¹⁰ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
¹¹ Department of Immunology, Centre for Immune Regulation and KG Jebsen Coeliac Disease Research Centre, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet and The University of Oslo, 0372 Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

Plasma cells (PCs) produce antibodies that mediate immunity after infection or vaccination. In contrast to PCs in the bone marrow, PCs in the gut have been considered short lived. In this study, we studied PC dynamics in the human small intestine by cell-turnover analysis in organ transplants and by retrospective cell birth dating measuring carbon-14 in genomic DNA. We identified three distinct PC subsets: a CD19⁺ PC subset was dynamically exchanged, whereas of two CD19^- PC subsets, CD45⁺ PCs exhibited little and CD45^- PCs no replacement and had a median age of 11 and 22 yr, respectively. Accumulation of CD45^- PCs during ageing and the presence of rotavirus-specific clones entirely within the CD19^- PC subsets support selection and maintenance of protective PCs for life in human intestine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antibody-Producing Cells / immunology
Antigens, CD19 / analysis
Child
Female
Humans
Intestines / immunology*
Leukocyte Common Antigens / analysis
Male
Middle Aged
Plasma Cells / immunology*

Substances

Antigens, CD19
CD19 molecule, human
Leukocyte Common Antigens
PTPRC protein, human