Gene expression profiling of plasma cells and plasmablasts: toward a better understanding of the late stages of B-cell differentiation

Plasma cells (PCs), the end point of B-cell differentiation, are a heterogeneous cell compartment comprising several cell subsets from short-lived highly proliferative plasmablasts to long-lived nondividing fully mature PCs. Whereas the major transcription factors driving the differentiation of B cells to PCs were recently identified, the subtle genetic changes that underlie the transition from plasmablasts to mature PCs are poorly understood. We recently described an in vitro model making it possible to obtain a large number of cells with the morphologic, phenotypic, and functional characteristics of normal polyclonal plasmablastic cells (PPCs). Using Affymetrix microarrays we compared the gene expression profiles of these PPCs with those of mature PCs isolated from tonsils (TPCs) and bone marrow (BMPCs), and with those of B cells purified from peripheral blood (PBB cells) and tonsils (TBCs). Unsupervised principal component analysis clearly distinguished the 5 cell populations on the basis of their differentiation and proliferation status. Detailed statistical analysis allowed the identification of 85 PC genes and 40 B-cell genes, overexpressed, respectively, in the 3 PC subsets or in the 2 B-cell subsets. In addition, several signaling molecules and antiapoptotic proteins were found to be induced in BMPCs compared with PPCs and could be involved in the accumulation and prolonged survival of BMPCs in close contact with specialized stromal microenvironment. These data should help to better understand the molecular events that regulate commitment to a PC fate, mediate PC maintenance in survival niches, and could facilitate PC immortalization in plasma cell dyscrasias. (C) 2003 by The American Society of Hematology.