In vitro culture of porcine B cells

摘要

B cells are a critical component of the adaptive immune system in pigs. Following activation by an antigen, B cells will go down one of two pathways. Many B cells become activated and produce antibodies that ate specific for a single epitope on a specific pathogen. A small number of B cells will differentiate into long-lived memory B cells that can be quickly activated to produce antibodies when the antigen is encountered a second time. This memory and specificity is the basis behind vaccination. A virulent antigen of a specific pathogen is introduced to the pig, then the pig will produce memory B cells that are activated if and when naturally exposed to the virulent form of the pathogen, resulting in protection against disease. Our lab has performed studies to determine a method to isolate these rare antigen specific memory B cells and to determine a culture method to maximize bulk expansion of porcine B cells (l). However, no studies have been performed trying to grow antigen specific memory B cells in vitro following isolation. The objective of this study is to produce a lymphocyte culture system that maximally expands antigen specific memory B cells by adding porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSv) non-structural protein 7(nsp7), along with various cytokines and receptor agonists to an in vitro culture system.This culture system will allow for the characterization of key tective memory B cells.