Plasma cells secrete antibodies that are essential for protective immunity. Plasma cells have long been known to reside in lymphoid organs such as the spleen and bone marrow, but it has been more recently discovered that these cells are found in many non-lymphoid organs, including the gut, central nervous system, fat, and skin. We have coined the term “tissue resident plasma cells” (TrPCs) to describe these specialised populations of immune cells. Each TrPC type appears to be unique, as they adapt their gene expression and antibody production to their specific tissue microenvironment, and we hypothesise that these TrPCs will make local contributions to tissue immunity.
This project will focus on analysing TrPCs from donated human tissue and apply advanced flow cytometry and genomics techniques, with the goal of getting a better understanding of the diversity of TrPCs in humans and the factors that maintain their unique gene expression and survival attributes. We aim to apply this knowledge to better understand how and why the immune system sometimes attacks its own tissues resulting in autoimmune diseases such as Lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome.
