Fig. 4. Transcriptome analysis in human NBCs and swMBCs.

a–c Global transcriptional differences of mRNAs in CD27⁺IgG⁺ vs. CD27^–IgD⁺ B cells (a), CD27⁺IgA⁺ vs. CD27^–IgD⁺ B cells (b) and CD27⁺IgG⁺ vs. CD27⁺IgA⁺ B cells (c), as depicted by volcano plots. All genes annotated in human GENCODE v24 GRCh38 are shown, with each circle representing 1 mRNA. The −log₁₀ FDR-adjusted p (p_adj) value is shown on the y axis (p_adj < 10 × 10^–30 indicated above-dashed line). DE mRNAs at p_adj < 0.05 are highlighted in red (upregulated) or in blue (downregulated). DE mRNAs at p_adj < 10 × 10^–30 and common to both CD27⁺IgG⁺ and CD27⁺IgA⁺ MBCs are annotated; IgH chain transcripts are annotated and highlighted. d Normalized (log₂RPKM) expression of the 24 (IgHδ excluded) DE mRNAs at p_adj < 10 × 10^–30 in swMBCs as compared to NBCs depicted by histogram for each B cell subset (left, downregulated and right, upregulated). Data are mean ± SEM from all three subjects. e Transcriptome clustering of the sorted subsets performed using the top 24 DE mRNAs depicted by principal component analysis (PCA) plot. Prediction ellipses define 95% confidence intervals. Each symbol represents an individually sorted subset (n = 3). f Relative expression profiles of swMBC core transcriptional signature mRNAs at p_adj < 10 × 10^–30 compared by heatmap, depicting relative transcriptional changes across CD27^–IgD⁺, CD27⁺IgD⁺, CD27⁺IgG⁺, and CD27⁺IgA⁺ B cell subsets in each subject (order^; B^,C,G). Data in a–f depict DE mRNA as determined by edgeR. B cell subsets are repeated at the bottom, left to right in CD27^–IgD⁺ (gray), CD27⁺IgD⁺ (lavender), CD27⁺IgG⁺ (purple), and CD27⁺IgA⁺ (dark purple).