The role of Semaphorin 4C-PlexinB2 interaction in B-lymphocyte differentiation

B淋巴细胞是制造抗体的细胞，为T细胞提供帮助，以帮助放大针对微生物和其他外来入侵者的免疫反应，并产生称为细胞因子的化学物质，将信息从一个细胞传递到另一个细胞。为了提高B淋巴细胞的交流能力，当B细胞被激活时，B细胞上的重要分子被带到细胞一侧的极点，这种结构被称为免疫突触。控制这些突触形成的分子还没有得到很好的研究。重要的是要了解免疫突触的调节，以了解细胞如何沟通，并可能改善自身免疫和抗体缺乏等问题。我的实验室发现，一种被称为Semaphorin 4C的分子，被认为只在神经系统中很重要，当B细胞被激活成熟或对特定类型的外来蛋白质做出反应时，就会产生这种分子。这种分子在B细胞中的全部功能尚不清楚。然而，我们的数据表明，脑信号蛋白4C作为锚的一部分，允许B细胞正确地形成免疫突触。在没有这种分子的小鼠中，被激活的B细胞不会形成正常的免疫突触，它们的B细胞不会产生正常数量的抗体或细胞因子。

B-lymphocytes are the cells that make antibodies, provide assistance to T-cells to help magnify immune responses against microbes and other foreign invaders, and produce chemicals called cytokines which transfer information from one cell to another. To improve the ability of B-lymphocytes to communicate, when B-cells are activated, important molecules on B-cells are brought to a pole on one side of the cell, in a structure known as the immune synapse. The molecules that control the formation of these synapses are not well studied. It is important to understand the regulation of the immune synapse to understand how cells communicate and potentially improve problems such as autoimmunity and antibody deficiencies. My laboratory discovered that a molecule known as Semaphorin 4C, thought to be only important in the nervous system, is produced when B-cells are activated to mature or to respond to particular types of foreign proteins. The full function of this molecule in B-cells is not known. However, our data suggests that Semaphorin 4C acts a part of the anchor allowing B-cells to properly form immune synapses. In mice that do not have this molecule, B-cells which are activated do not form normal immune synapses and their B-cells do not make normal amounts of antibodies or cytokines.