Abnormal germinal center reactions in systemic lupus erythematosus demonstrated by blockade of CD154-CD40 interactions
J. Clin. Invest. Amrie C. Grammer, et al. 112:1506 doi:10.1172/JCI19301 [Go to this article.]

Figure 4
CD154 expression by active-SLE B cells after a treatment course with humanized anti-CD154 (5c8). Individual CD19⁺ B cells in freshly isolated PBMCs from normal volunteers and active-SLE patients before treatment, after two treatments, and 2–3 months after treatment were identified following staining with fluorochrome-conjugated anti-CD19 and either sorted into individual wells using a FACSVantage flow cytometer (a) or additionally stained with PE-conjugated anti-CD154 (89-76; b). Transcripts of CD154, CD40, and β-actin mRNA were identified by PCR and Southern blotting (a). Surface expression of CD154 is shown in b, where the dotted line indicates the cutoff for staining with a PE-conjugated isotype-matched control Ab.