title: Identification of Ly-6K as a novel marker for mouse plasma cells.
abstract: Plasma cells are the main producers of antibody and key effector cells of the immune system. Despite their importance, analytics of plasma cells still suffers from the limited availability of specific markers. Currently, plasma cell identification relies on the expression of a single marker, CD138/syndecan-1. However, syndecan-1 is widely expressed on various cell types outside the hematopoietic compartment, and furthermore, not expressed on all subsets of plasma cells. To discover novel surface markers, a differential screening followed by signal sequence trap cloning was developed, leading to the identification of mouse Ly-6K (mLy-6K). Expression profiling confirmed that mLy-6K is expressed by plasma cells but not B cells or tissues not containing plasma cells. Expression at the surface of plasma cells isolated from spleen, lymph node, bone marrow, and lamina propria of the small intestine was demonstrated at the protein level using a polyclonal rabbit antibody. This novel plasma cell marker shows promise to help broaden our understanding of plasma cell differentiation and function.
authors: Cytos Biotechnology AG, Wagistrasse 25, Schlieren, Switzerland.
authors: Caroline E
authors: CE
authors: von Allmen
authors: Monika
authors: M
authors: Bauer
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Dietmeier
authors: Regula B
authors: RB
authors: Buser
authors: Myriam
authors: M
authors: Gwerder
authors: Simone
authors: S
authors: Muntwiler
authors: Stephan
authors: S
authors: Utzinger
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Saudan
authors: Martin F
authors: MF
authors: Bachmann
authors: Roger R
authors: RR
authors: Beerli
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000950:Antigens, Ly / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000950:Antigens, Ly; D015415:Biomarkers