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. 2009 Jun 2;4(6):e5776. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005776

Figure 5. Early checkpoints of B cell tolerance.

Figure 5

Phenotype of tetramer-binding B cells in 7 patients with SLE in patients with quiescent disease, defined as a SLEDAI≤4 (A) or patients showing signs of clinical disease activity, defined as a SLEDAI>4 (B). The percentage of tetramer-binding and tetramer-negative B cells with a transitional phenotype (bordeaux) and the calculated percentage of tetramer-binding (T+) and tetramer-negative (T-) B cells with a naïve phenotype (yellow) in 7 patients with SLE. The percentage of naïve B cells was calculated by subtracting the percentage of CD27−CD10+ B cells from the percentage of CD27−IgD+ B cells. The percentage of tetramer-binding and tetramer-negative B cells with an antigen-experienced phenotype comprising CD27+ switched (IgD−) and non-switched (IgD+) memory B cells and CD19lowCD27++ plasmablasts is shown in blue. CD27−IgD− B cells (grey) were excluded from analysis. The right panel of the figure shows the frequencies of tetramer-binding B cells within the transitional and naïve B cell subsets in these lupus patients. Mean values are shown. *Patients with moderately active disease exhibited a significantly higher frequency of tetramer-binding B cells in the naïve population (p<0.02, unpaired t test).