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Figure 1 | Environmental Health

Figure 1

From: Disruption of human plasma cell differentiation by an environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon: a mechanistic immunotoxicological study

Figure 1

Differentiation of peripheral human B cells into plasma cells. CD20hi B cells were purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and activated for 4 days on CD40L-expressing cells in the presence of rIL-2, rIL-4, rIL-10, and rIL-12. Activated B cells then were adjusted to 4.0 × 105 cells/ml and cultured for an additional 4 days without CD40L cells but with rIL-2, rIL-6, rIL-10, rIL-12 and rIFN-α. A) The phenotype of fresh PBMCs prior to sorting, and of B lineage cells obtained after the first and second cultures was determined by flow cytometry following staining with CD20- and CD38-specific or isotype control monoclonal antibodies. Quadrants were set using isotype control antibodies. CD20high/CD38low starting B cells and CD20lo/CD38hi plasma cells are indicated by the octagons in the leftmost and rightmost dot plots respectively. B) CD20lo/CD38hi cells generated after the second culture were sorted by flow cytometry, cytocentrifuged onto glass slides, and treated with Giemsa stain to visualize plasma cell morphology.

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