Ntsethe, A.; Mkhwanazi, Z.A.; Dludla, P.V.; Nkambule, B.B. B Cell Subsets and Immune Checkpoint Expression in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol.2024, 46, 1731-1740.
Ntsethe, A.; Mkhwanazi, Z.A.; Dludla, P.V.; Nkambule, B.B. B Cell Subsets and Immune Checkpoint Expression in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2024, 46, 1731-1740.
Ntsethe, A.; Mkhwanazi, Z.A.; Dludla, P.V.; Nkambule, B.B. B Cell Subsets and Immune Checkpoint Expression in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol.2024, 46, 1731-1740.
Ntsethe, A.; Mkhwanazi, Z.A.; Dludla, P.V.; Nkambule, B.B. B Cell Subsets and Immune Checkpoint Expression in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2024, 46, 1731-1740.
Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by dysfunctional B cells. Immune checkpoint molecules such as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), and programmed death-1 (PD-1) are upregulated in patients with CLL and may correlate with prognostic markers such as beta-2 microglobulin (B2M). The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of immune checkpoints on B-cell subsets and to further correlate them with B2M levels in patients with CLL. We recruited 21 patients with CLL and 12 controls. B cell subsets and the levels of immune checkpoint expression were determined using conventional multi-color flowcytometry. Basal levels of B2M in patients with CLL were measured using an Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients with CLL had increased levels of activated B cells when compared to the control group, p< 0.001. The expression of PD-1 and CTLA-4 were increased on activated B cells and memory B cells, p< 0.05. There were no associations between B2M levels and the measured immune checkpoints on B cell subsets, after adjusting for sex and age. African patients with CLL express elevated levels of PD-1 and CTLA-4 immune checkpoints on activated and memory B cell subsets. However, there is no correlation between these immune checkpoint expressions and B2M levels.
Keywords
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; immune checkpoints; B cell subsets; beta-2 microglobulin; programmed death protein 1; cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Immunology and Allergy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
