ArticleNature communications2025
B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is dispensable for the survival of long-lived plasma cells.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- From technological iteration to clinical breakthrough: advances of CAR-T cell therapy in autoimmune diseases.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- Review
- BAFF and APRIL Receptors in B Cell Immunity and Autoimmunity.Immunological reviews · 2026Review
- Protocol for selective in vivo labeling of bone marrow plasma cells by intrafemoral antibody injection in mice.STAR protocols · 2026Article
- Inhibition of mitochondrial ROS by TACI sustains bone marrow plasma cells.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Engineering Soluble Recombinant BCMA for Ide-Cel Labeling.European journal of immunology · 2026Article
- BAFF and APRIL signaling in the B-cell lineage: implications for the pathogenesis of ANCA-associated vasculitis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Distinct landscapes of T-cell immunity and TCR repertoire between sepsis and pre-septic high-risk states.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Why are long-lived plasma cells long-lived?Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Circulating plasma cells: from basic mechanisms to clinical applications.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Plasma cells in and around the central nervous system.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- On the carrying capacity of the bone marrow survival niche in mice.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The survival of antibody-secreting plasma cells is essential for long-lasting humoral immunity. BCMA is proposed to promote APRIL-mediated survival signals. However, extensive shedding of murine BCMA raises doubts about its role as a signaling receptor. To unequivocally establish BCMA's function in plasma cell survival, we generate two BCMA-deficient mouse lines and examine antigen-specific plasma cells post-immunization. Contrary to previous reports, both BCMA-deficient mouse lines have comparable numbers of antigen-specific long-lived plasma cells following both protein and mRNA immunizations. Transcriptome analysis reveals no reduction in survival signaling upon BCMA deletion. Interestingly, BCMA-deficient mice show increased total plasma cell numbers in the bone marrow and mesenteric lymph nodes after boost immunizations. These results indicate that BCMA has no intrinsic role in maintaining long-lived plasma cells. Instead, we propose that BCMA's function is limited to acting as a soluble decoy receptor for APRIL, thereby fine-tuning the plasma cell population size by limiting survival factor availability. Our findings thus provide a strong argument against the APRIL-BCMA axis being a central mechanism for plasma cell longevity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.