Figure 6.

Impact of circulating Tfh (cTfh) cell subsets on B cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. Magnetic bead–purified B cells from healthy controls were cultured alone or cocultured with cTfh cell subsets (cTfh1, cTfh2, and cTfh17) from healthy controls or patients with IgG4‐RD in vitro. Representative data from 3 independent experiments are shown. A, Detection of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) (blue box) and cleaved poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) (red box) by flow cytometry in B cells on day 3 after stimulation. B, Detection of CD19+CD24−CD38^high plasmablasts (red circle) by flow cytometry on day 7 after stimulation. C, Comparison of the percentage of BrdU+ B cells, cleaved PARP+ B cells, and plasmablasts between the different groups. Results are the mean ± SD. * = P < 0.05; ** = P < 0.01. See Figure 1 for other definitions.