AUTHOR=Li Rui , Rezk Ayman , Healy Luke M. , Muirhead Gillian , Prat Alexandre , Gommerman Jennifer L. , Bar-Or Amit ,  MSSRF Canadian B cells in MS Team 

TITLE=Cytokine-Defined B Cell Responses as Therapeutic Targets in Multiple Sclerosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2015

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00626

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2015.00626

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=Important antibody-independent pathogenic roles of B cells are emerging in autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS). The contrasting results of different treatments targeting B cells in patients (in spite of predictions of therapeutic benefits from animal models) call for a better understanding of the multiple roles that distinct human B cell responses likely play in MS. In recent years, both murine and human B cells have been identified with distinct functional properties related to their expression of particular cytokines. These have included regulatory (Breg) B cells (secreting IL-10 or IL-35), and pro-inflammatory B cells (secreting TNFɑ, LT, IL-6 and GM-CSF). Better understanding of human cytokine-defined B cell responses is necessary in both health and diseases such as MS. Investigation of their surface phenotype, distinct functions and the mechanisms of regulation (both cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic) may help develop effective treatments that are more selective and safe. In this review, we focus on mechanisms by which cytokine-defined B cells contribute to the peripheral immune cascades that are thought to underlie MS relapses, and the impact of B cell-directed therapies on these mechanisms.