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After vaccination or infection, antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) are responsible for maintaining antibody production. Most useful of all are long-lived ASCs, which are found in the bone marrow and churn out antibodies over a person’s lifetime. One way to bolster ASCs’ antibody output would be to increase the number of long-lived ASCs. The NIH has awarded David Fooksman, Ph.D., a five-year, $2 million grant to find ways of increasing levels of long-lived ASCs following Dr. Fooksman and colleagues have shown that cell membranes of long-lasting ASCs express high levels of a proteoglycan called CD138. They believe that those high levels of CD138 give long-lasting ASCs a survival advantage over new ASCs, and they will use the NIH grant to test that theory. The researchers will also explore ways of increasing CD138 levels as a way to enhance the survival of long-lasting ASCs and improve long-term immunity. Dr. Fooksman is an assistant professor of pathology and of microbiology & immunology at Einstein. (1R01HL141491-01)
Posted on: Thursday, May 31, 2018