Multiplexed CRISPR/CAS9-mediated engineering of pre-clinical mouse models bearing native human B cell receptors.

B-cell receptor (BCR) knock-in (KI) mouse models play an important role in vaccine development and fundamental immunological studies. However, the time required to generate them poses a bottleneck. Here we report a one-step CRISPR/Cas9 KI methodology to combine the insertion of human germline immunoglobulin heavy and light chains at their endogenous loci in mice. We validate this technology with the rapid generation of three BCR KI lines expressing native human precursors, instead of computationally inferred germline sequences, to HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies. We demonstrate that B cells from these mice are fully functional: upon transfer to congenic, wild type mice at controlled frequencies, such B cells can be primed by eOD-GT8 60mer, a germline-targeting immunogen currently in clinical trials, recruited to germinal centers, secrete class-switched antibodies, undergo somatic hypermutation, and differentiate into memory B cells. KI mice expressing functional human BCRs promise to accelerate the development of vaccines for HIV and other infectious diseases.

MDSCs are important osteoclast precursors primed by B cells in rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoclast-mediated bone erosion and deformation represent significant pathological features in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and B cells have emerged as key contributors to the progression of RA. Nevertheless, their involvement, especially the interaction in RA osteoclastogenesis remains elusive. In this study, our results revealed a marked expansion of MDSCs in RA patients, and importantly, their abundance was positively correlated with radiographic damage evaluated by the Sharp/van der Heijde score. Notably, MDSCs derived from both RA patients and arthritic mice exhibited a heightened propensity to differentiate into osteoclasts compared with those from healthy individuals. Intriguingly, we observed that B cells from RA patients could augment the osteoclastogenic potential of MDSCs, which was also observed in arthritic mice. The impact of B cells on MDSC-mediated osteoclastogenesis was found to be most pronounced in switched memory B cells, followed by CD21low B cells and naïve B cells. MDSCs from B-cell-deficient mice exhibited diminished capacity to differentiate into osteoclasts, accompanied by distinct gene expression profiles associated with osteoclastogenesis. Taken together, our findings suggested that MDSCs were important osteoclast precursors primed by B cells in RA, serving as novel therapeutic targets for the persistent disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients harbour aberrant enteric bacteriophages with autoimmunity-provoking potential: a paired sibling study.

OBJECTIVES: Viruses have been considered as important participants in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the profile of enteric virome and its role in RA remains elusive. This study aimed to investigate the atlas and involvement of virome in RA pathogenesis. METHODS: Faecal samples from 30 pairs of RA and healthy siblings that minimise genetic interferences were collected for metagenomic sequencing. The α and ß diversity of the virome and the virome-bacteriome interaction were analysed. The differential bacteriophages were identified, and their correlations with clinical and immunological features of RA were analysed. The potential involvement of these differential bacteriophages in RA pathogenesis was further investigated by auxiliary metabolic gene annotation and molecular mimicry study. The responses of CD4+ T cells and B cells to the mimotopes derived from the differential bacteriophages were systemically studied. RESULTS: The composition of the enteric bacteriophageome was distorted in RA. The differentially presented bacteriophages correlated with the immunological features of RA, including anti-CCP autoantibody and HLA-DR shared epitope. Intriguingly, the glycerolipid and purine metabolic genes were highly active in the bacteriophages from RA. Moreover, peptides of RA-enriched phages, in particular Prevotella phage and Oscillibacter phage could provoke the autoimmune responses in CD4+ T cells and plasma cells via molecular mimicry of the disease-associated autoantigen epitopes, especially those of Bip. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new insights into enteric bacteriophageome in RA development. In particular, the aberrant bacteriophages demonstrated autoimmunity-provoking potential that would promote the occurrence of the disease.

Proinflammatory phenotype of B10 and B10pro cells elicited by TNF-α in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: B10 and B10pro cells suppress immune responses via secreting interleukin (IL)-10. However, their regulators and underlying mechanisms, especially in human autoimmune diseases, are elusive. This study aimed to address these questions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), one of the most common highly disabling autoimmune diseases. METHODS: The frequencies and functions of B10 and B10pro cells in healthy individuals and patients with RA were first analysed. The effects of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α on the quantity, stability and pathogenic phenotype of these cells, were then assessed in patients with RA before and after anti-TNF therapy. The underlying mechanisms were further investigated by scRNA-seq database reanalysis, transcriptome sequencing, TNF-α-/- and B cell-specific SHIP-1-/- mouse disease model studies. RESULTS: TNF-α was a key determinant for B10 cells. TNF-α elicited the proinflammatory feature of B10 and B10pro cells by downregulating IL-10, and upregulating interferon-γ and IL-17A. In patients with RA, B10 and B10pro cells were impaired with exacerbated proinflammatory phenotype, while anti-TNF therapy potently restored their frequencies and immunosuppressive functions, consistent with the increased B10 cells in TNF-α-/- mice. Mechanistically, TNF-α diminished B10 and B10pro cells by inhibiting their glycolysis and proliferation. TNF-α also regulated the phosphatidylinositol phosphate signalling of B10 and B10pro cells and dampened the expression of SHIP-1, a dominant phosphatidylinositol phosphatase regulator of these cells. CONCLUSIONS: TNF-α provoked the proinflammatory phenotype of B10 and B10pro cells by disturbing SHIP-1 in RA, contributing to the disease development. Reinstating the immunosuppressive property of B10 and B10pro cells might represent novel therapeutic approaches for RA.

Traumatic acid inhibits ACSL4 associated lipid accumulation in adipocytes to attenuate high-fat diet-induced obesity.

Obesity is a major health concern that lacks effective intervention strategies. Traumatic acid (TA) is a potent wound-healing agent in plants, considered an antioxidant food ingredient. This study demonstrated that TA treatment significantly reduced lipid accumulation in human adipocytes and prevented high-fat diet induced obesity in zebrafish. Transcriptome sequencing revealed TA-activated fatty acid (FA) degradation and FA metabolism signaling pathways. Moreover, western blotting and quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that TA inhibited the expression of long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase-4 (ACSL4). Overexpression of ACSL4 resulted in the reversal of TA beneficiary effects, indicating that the attenuated lipid accumulation of TA was regulated by ACSL4 expression. Limited proteolysis-mass spectrometry and microscale thermophoresis were then used to confirm hexokinase 2 (HK2) as a direct molecular target of TA. Thus, we demonstrated the molecular basis of TA in regulating lipid accumulation and gave the first evidence that TA may function through the HK2-ACSL4 axis.

Tyro3 receptor tyrosine kinase contributes to pathogenic phenotypes of fibroblast-like synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis and disturbs immune cell balance in experimental arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by synovitis and joint damage, the underlying causes of which remain unclear. Our prior investigations revealed a notable correlation between the expression of Tyro3 Protein Tyrosine Kinase (Tyro3TK) and the progression of RA. To further elucidate the pathogenic role of Tyro3TK in RA, we analyzed the influence of Tyro3TK on pathogenic phenotypes of RA fibroblast like synoviocyte (FLS) in vitro and compared disease severity, joint damages and immunological parameters of K/BxN serum transfer arthritis (STA) in Tyro3TK-/- deficient mice and wild type controls. Our findings underscored the remarkable effectiveness of Tyro3TK blockade, as evidenced by diminished secretion of inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), curtailed migration and invasiveness of RAFLS, and attenuated differentiation of pathogenic helper T cell subsets mediated by RAFLS. Correspondingly, our in vivo investigations illuminated the more favorable outcomes in Tyro3TK-deficient mice, characterized by reduced joint pathology, tempered synovial inflammation, and restored immune cell equilibrium. These data suggested that Tyro3TK might contribute to aggravated autoimmune arthritis and immunological pathology and act as a potential therapeutic target for RA.

Transcriptomics profiling reveal the heterogeneity of white and brown adipocyte.

The marker genes associated with white adipocytes and brown adipocytes have been previously identified; however, these markers have not been updated in several years, and the differentiation process of preadipocytes remains relatively fixed. Consequently, there has been a lack of exploration into alternative differentiation schemes. In this particular study, we present a transcriptional signature specific to brown adipocytes and white adipocytes. Notably, our findings reveal that ZNF497, ZIC1, ZFY, UTY, USP9Y, TXLNGY, TTTY14, TNNT3, TNNT2, TNNT1, TNNI1, TNNC1, TDRD15, SOX11, SLN, SFRP2, PRKY, PAX3KLHL40, PAX3, INKA2-AS1, SOX11, and TDRD15 exhibit high expression levels in brown adipocytes. XIST, HOXA10, PCAT19, HOXA7, PLSCR3, and AVPR1A exhibited high expression levels in white adipocytes, suggesting their potential as novel marker genes for the transition from white to brown adipocytes. Furthermore, our analysis revealed the coordinated activation of several pathways, including the PPAR signaling pathway, focal adhesion, retrograde endocannabinoid signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and thermogenesis pathways, in brown adipocytes. Moreover, in contrast to prevailing culture techniques, we conducted a comparative analysis of the differentiation protocols for white preadipocytes and brown preadipocytes, revealing that the differentiation outcome remained unaffected by the diverse culture schemes employed. However, the expression levels of certain marker genes in both adipocyte types were found to be altered. This investigation not only identified potential novel marker genes for adipocytes but also examined the impact of different differentiation methods on preadipocyte maturation. Consequently, these findings offer significant insights for further research on the differentiation processes of diverse adipocyte subtypes.

Decreased perforin-producing B cells correlate with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVES: It has been proved that B cells play indispensable roles in immunity via producing cytokines and secreting antibodies. Aberrant B cells are considered as the major participants in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Recently, perforin (PFP)-producing B cell has been identified, serving as a new type of potential anti-tumour effector cells. However, the roles and characteristics of the PFP-producing B cells in SLE remain unclear. METHODS: The frequencies of PFP-producing B cells in peripheral blood of heathy controls (HC) and SLE patients were detected by flow cytometry, and their correlation with the patient clinical and immunological features were analysed. The capacities of these cells in producing PFP were also compared between HC and SLE by RT-qPCR and ELISpot analyses. RESULTS: In this study, we demonstrated that B cells could produce PFP and was further enhanced upon anti-BCR and IL-21 stimulation. In patients with SLE, the frequencies of these PFP-producing B cells were decreased and negatively correlated with the clinical characteristics. Further analysis revealed that SLE patients with vasculitis and pleurisy showed even lower frequencies of PFP-producing B cells. CONCLUSIONS: These findings revealed that B cells could produce PFP, and a decrease in these cells was associated with SLE pathogenesis.

Exploring core symptoms and interrelationships among symptoms in children with acute leukemia during chemotherapy: A network analysis.

PURPOSE: Children with acute leukemia have suffered from a considerable symptom burden during chemotherapy. However, few studies have focused on exploring the mechanisms among symptoms in children with acute leukemia. Our study aims to explore core symptoms and describe the interrelationships among symptoms in children with acute leukemia during chemotherapy. METHODS: From January 2021 to March 2023, 469 children with acute leukemia were recruited from 20 Chinese cities. The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale 10-18 (MSAS 10-18) was used to evaluate the prevalence and severity of symptoms during chemotherapy. A network analysis was performed by the R software based on 31 symptoms. Centrality indices and density were used to explore core symptoms and describe interrelationships among symptoms in the network during chemotherapy. RESULTS: Worrying and feeling irritable were the central symptoms across the three centrality indices, including strength, closeness, and betweenness. Lack of energy was the most prevalent symptom; however, it was less central than other symptoms. The density of the "induction and remission" network significantly differed from other cycles' counterparts (p < 0.001). Global strength was greater in the " ≥ 8 years group " network than the " < 8 years group " network (p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Network analysis provides a novel approach to identifying the core symptoms and understanding the interrelationships among symptoms. Our study indicates the need to assess emotional symptoms in children with acute leukemia during chemotherapy, especially during the induction and remission phases, as well as in older children. Future research is imperative to construct trajectories of dynamic symptom networks and centrality indices in longitudinal data to investigate the causal relationships among symptoms.

Machine learning algorithms to predict intraoperative hemorrhage in surgical patients: a modeling study of real-world data in Shanghai, China.

BACKGROUND: Prediction tools for various intraoperative bleeding events remain scarce. We aim to develop machine learning-based models and identify the most important predictors by real-world data from electronic medical records (EMRs). METHODS: An established database of surgical inpatients in Shanghai was utilized for analysis. A total of 51,173 inpatients were assessed for eligibility. 48,543 inpatients were obtained in the dataset and patients were divided into haemorrhage (N = 9728) and without-haemorrhage (N = 38,815) groups according to their bleeding during the procedure. Candidate predictors were selected from 27 variables, including sex (N = 48,543), age (N = 48,543), BMI (N = 48,543), renal disease (N = 26), heart disease (N = 1309), hypertension (N = 9579), diabetes (N = 4165), coagulopathy (N = 47), and other features. The models were constructed by 7 machine learning algorithms, i.e., light gradient boosting (LGB), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), cathepsin B (CatB), Ada-boosting of decision tree (AdaB), logistic regression (LR), long short-term memory (LSTM), and multilayer perception (MLP). An area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the model performance. RESULTS: The mean age of the inpatients was 53 ± 17 years, and 57.5% were male. LGB showed the best predictive performance for intraoperative bleeding combining multiple indicators (AUC = 0.933, sensitivity = 0.87, specificity = 0.85, accuracy = 0.87) compared with XGB, CatB, AdaB, LR, MLP and LSTM. The three most important predictors identified by LGB were operative time, D-dimer (DD), and age. CONCLUSIONS: We proposed LGB as the best Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT) algorithm for the evaluation of intraoperative bleeding. It is considered a simple and useful tool for predicting intraoperative bleeding in clinical settings. Operative time, DD, and age should receive attention.

Interstitial flow promotes the formation of functional microvascular networks in vitro through upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-2.

Self-organized microvascular networks (MVNs) have become key to the development of many microphysiological models. However, the self-organizing nature of this process combined with variations between types or batches of endothelial cells (ECs) often lead to inconsistency or failure to form functional MVNs. Since interstitial flow (IF) has been reported to play a beneficial role in angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, and 3D capillary morphogenesis, we systematically investigated the role IF plays during neovessel formation in a customized single channel microfluidic chip for which IF has been fully characterized. Compared to static conditions, MVNs formed under IF have higher vessel density and diameters and greater network perfusability. Through a series of inhibitory experiments, we demonstrated that IF treatment improves vasculogenesis by ECs through upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). We then successfully implemented a novel strategy involving the interplay between IF and MMP-2 inhibitor to regulate morphological parameters of the self-organized MVNs, with vascular permeability and perfusability well maintained. The revealed mechanism and proposed methodology were further validated with a brain MVN model. Our findings and methods have the potential to be widely utilized to boost the development of various organotypic MVNs and could be incorporated into related bioengineering applications where perfusable vasculature is desired.

Elevated expression of TAM receptor tyrosine kinase in synovial fluid and synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis.

To investigate the expression and roles of TAM (Tyro3/Axl/Mer) receptor tyrosine kinases (TK) in synovial fluid and synovial tissue of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The expression of TAM TKs in the synovial fluid and synovial tissues of RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients was measured by ELISA and immunohistochemistry. The relationships between soluble TAM TKs (sTAM TKs) levels and the clinical features, laboratory parameters and disease activity were analyzed in RA. The concentrations of sTAM TK in the synovial fluids of RA patients were increased in comparison to those of OA patients. Compared with OA patients, the expression of membrane Tyro3 TK (mTyro3 TK) and mMer TK in RA patient synovial tissue were significantly increased, which may partly explain the possible mechanism of elevated levels of sTAM TK in RA patient synovial fluid. sAxl TK levels were decreased in RA patients under sulfasalazine treatment and elevated in patients under Iguratimod treatment. Furthermore, sTyro3 TK levels were positively correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and negatively correlated with white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), and hemoglobin (HB) in RA patients. The levels of sMer TK were positively associated with disease duration and rheumatoid factor (RF) and negatively correlated with HB, complement 3 (C3), and C4. Taken together, TAM TKs might be involved in RA synovial tissue inflammation.

Globally Optimal Distributed Fusion Filter for Descriptor Systems with Time-Correlated Measurement Noises.

This paper concerns the distributed fusion filtering problem for descriptor systems with time-correlated measurement noises. The original descriptor is transformed into two reduced-order subsystems (ROSs) based on singular value decomposition. For the first ROS, a new measurement is obtained using measurement difference technology. Each sensor produces a local filter based on the fusion predictor from the fusion center and its own new measurement and then sends it to the fusion center. In the fusion center, based on local filters, a distributed fusion filter with feedback (DFFWF) in the linear minimum variance (LMV) sense is proposed by applying an innovative approach. The DFFWF for the second ROS is also obtained based on the DFFWF for the first ROS. Then, the DFFWF for the original descriptor is obtained. The proposed DFFWF can achieve the same estimation accuracy as the centralized fusion filter (CFF) under the condition that all local filter gain matrices are of full column rank. Its optimality is strictly proved. Moreover, it has robustness and reliability due to the parallel processing of local filters. Two simulation examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed fusion algorithm.

Sensitivity of the Transport of Plastic Nanoparticles to Typical Phosphates Associated with Ionic Strength and Solution pH.

The influence of phosphates on the transport of plastic particles in porous media is environmentally relevant due to their ubiquitous coexistence in the subsurface environment. This study investigated the transport of plastic nanoparticles (PNPs) via column experiments, paired with Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek calculations and numerical simulations. The trends of PNP transport vary with increasing concentrations of NaH2PO4 and Na2HPO4 due to the coupled effects of increased electrostatic repulsion, the competition for retention sites, and the compression of the double layer. Higher pH tends to increase PNP transport due to the enhanced deprotonation of surfaces. The release of retained PNPs under reduced IS and increased pH is limited because most of the PNPs were irreversibly captured in deep primary minima. The presence of physicochemical heterogeneities on solid surfaces can reduce PNP transport and increase the sensitivity of the transport to IS. Furthermore, variations in the hydrogen bonding when the two phosphates act as proton donors will result in different influences on PNP transport at the same IS. This study highlights the sensitivity of PNP transport to phosphates associated with the solution chemistries (e.g., IS and pH) and is helpful for better understanding the fate of PNPs and other colloidal contaminants in the subsurface environment.

Liposome-encapsulated peptide PDBSN ameliorates high-fat-diet-induced obesity and improves metabolism homeostasis.

In recent years, the obese and overweight population has increased rapidly, which has become a worldwide public health problem. However, effective medication is lacking. Our previous study identified a novel peptide, PDBSN (GLSVADLAESIMKNL), that could significantly restrict adipocyte differentiation in vitro, but its in vivo function has not been determined. Thus, in this study, we encapsulated the peptide into liposomes attached with two ligands (visceral-adipose-tissue-targeting peptide and cell-penetrating peptide) to improve stability and specificity. We then tested the peptide's function in HFD (high-fat diet)-induced obese mice and found that PDBSN could reduce weight gain and improve insulin resistance as well as lipid homeostasis. These results suggest that PDBSN may be a potential candidate for anti-obesity drug discovery.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α perpetuates synovial fibroblast interactions with T cells and B cells in rheumatoid arthritis.

Synovial fibroblast hyperplasia, T-cell hyperactivity, B-cell overactivation, and the self-perpetuating interactions among these cell types are major characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The inflamed joints of RA patients are hypoxic, with upregulated expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in RA synovial fibroblasts (RASFs). It remains unknown whether HIF-1α regulates interactions between RASFs and T cells and B cells. We report here that HIF-1α promotes the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-1ß, and cell-cell contact mediators IL-15, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, thrombospondin (TSP)-1, and stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1 in RASFs. Furthermore, HIF-1α perpetuates RASF-mediated inflammatory Th1- and Th17-cell expansion while differentially inhibiting regulatory B10 and innate-like B cells, leading to increased IFN-γ, IL-17, and IgG production and decreased protective natural IgM secretion. Our findings suggest that HIF-1α perpetuates the interactions between RASFs and T cells and B cells to induce inflammatory cytokine and autoantibody production, thus exacerbating the severity of RA. Targeting HIF-1α may provide new therapeutic strategies for overcoming this persistent disease.

Pathogenic conversion of regulatory B10 cells into osteoclast-priming cells in rheumatoid arthritis.

Regulatory B10 cells were functionally impaired in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), yet the mechanisms were unclear. B cells are recently recognized as important participants in osteoclastogenesis by producing RANKL. In this study, we investigated whether regulatory B10 cells could convert into RANKL-producing cells, thus impairing their immunosuppressive functions in RA and exacerbating the disease progression. Our results showed that human regulatory B10 cells could ectopically express RANKL. Under RA circumstance, RANKL-producing B10 cells expanded dramatically, partially induced by TNF-α. The frequencies of these cells were positively correlated with RA patient disease activities and tender joint counts, but negatively correlated with the frequencies of regulatory B10 cells. Strikingly, RANKL-producing B10 cells from RA patients, but not healthy individuals significantly promoted osteoclast differentiation and bone erosion in a paracrine and cell-cell contact-dependent manner. Moreover, these pathogenic RANKL-producing B10 cells declined while regulatory IL-10-producing B10 cells increased in RA patients with disease remission after therapy. Collectively, these results showed that in RA, regulatory B10 cells demonstrated the potential of converting into RANKL-producing cells, thus exacerbating osteoclast formation, bone destruction and disease progression. Modulating the status of B10 cells might provide novel therapeutic strategies for RA.

What is beautiful brings out what is good in you: The effect of facial attractiveness on individuals' honesty.

This study tested whether the presence of an attractive face would influence individuals' honesty. In 2 experiments, 225 participants were asked to predict the outcome of computerised coin-flips and to self-report the accuracy of their predictions. Self-reports were made in the presence of a facial photo of a female who had been rated before the experiment as high attractive, middle attractive or low attractive by other volunteers. Participants were rewarded based on their self-reported (not actual) accuracy. The results showed that subjects tended to give more dishonest self-reports when presented with middle or low attractive facial images than when presented with high attractive images, with self-reported accuracy being significantly higher than the random level. The results of this study show that presented with an attractive face, subjects tend to engage in behaviours that conform to moral codes.

Through an ITIM-independent mechanism the FcγRIIB blocks B cell activation by disrupting the colocalized microclustering of the B cell receptor and CD19.

B cell activation is regulated through the interplay of the BCR with the inhibitory coreceptor FcγRIIB and the activating coreceptor CD19. Recent studies suggest that Ag-driven BCR microclusters are efficiently converted to a signaling active state on colocalization with CD19 microclusters. Using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy-based, high-resolution, high-speed live-cell and molecule imaging approaches, we show that when co-ligated to the BCR, the FcγRIIB can inhibit B cell activation by blocking the colocalization of BCR and CD19 microclusters within the B cell immunological synapse. Remarkably, this inhibitory function of FcγRIIB is dependent not on its well-characterized ITIM-containing cytoplasmic domain, but its transmembrane domain. Indeed, human primary B cells from systemic lupus erythematosus patients homozygous for gene encoding the loss-of-function transmembrane domain mutant FcγRIIB-I232T fail to block the synaptic colocalization of the BCR with CD19, leading to dysregulated recruitment of downstream signaling molecule p-PI3K to membrane proximal signalosome. This inhibitory function of FcγRIIB in impairing the spatial-temporal colocalization of BCR and CD19 microclusters in the B cell immunological synapse may help explain the hyper-reactive features of systemic lupus erythematosus patient B cells in reported studies. These observations may also provide new targets for therapies for systemic autoimmune disease.

[Analyses of 77 patients with hemophagocytic syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the clinical features and laboratory data of 77 patients with hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS). METHODS: A total of 77 patients of HPS were continuously collected from 2007 to 2014 at our hospital. Their underlying diseases, clinical features, laboratory data, therapy and prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS: Their The patients aged from 3 months to 85 years. The gender ratio was roughly equal. Primary HPS was diagnosed in only 5 cases by gene detection Another 72 cases belonged to secondary HPS. The causes were infection (n = 28), hematologic neoplasm (n = 25), autoimmune diseases (AID, n = 11) and unknown (n = 8). HPS was the initial symptom in nearly half cases of hematologic neoplasm and AID. HPS was characterized by high fever (100%), hypersplenomegaly (81.8%) and lymphadenopathy (40.3%). Laboratory data showed cytopenia (94.8%), serum ferritin elevation (93.2%), hypofibrinogenemia (61.8%), hemophagocytosis in bone marrow (78.1%) and hypertriglyceridemia (55.3%). Low NK-cell activity (95.2%) and elevation of sCD25 (100%) were specific manifestations in HPS. Pulmonary infection (36.4%) and hepatic malfunction (33.3%) were common. Approximately 70% were treated with HLH-2004. Pulse-dose corticosteroid therapy (methylprdnisolone 200-500 mg/d) was used in 8 AID patients. And 14 patients died and 10 withdrew treatment because of exacerbation. Five had complications of DIC and another 5 progressed into MODS. Neoplasm (52.0%) had the highest mortality in secondary HPS. And infection (25.0%) and AID (18.2%) followed. CONCLUSION: Sometimes HPS occurs simultaneously with autoimmune disease or neoplasm. Relevant laboratory tests for suspected patients may aid an early diagnosis. Presence of DIC or MODS in HPS is possibly correlated with a poor prognosis and a high mortality.