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September 10, 2025Nature CommunicationsOpen Access

B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is dispensable for the survival of long-lived plasma cells

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Observational analysis reveals BCMA does not maintain long-lived plasma cells, suggesting alternative pathways for humoral immunity.

BCMA-deficient mice show comparable numbers of long-lived plasma cells post-immunization, indicating BCMA's dispensability for survival.
Following both protein and mRNA immunizations, BCMA deletion allowed for an increase in total plasma cell numbers in bone marrow and lymph nodes.
Transcriptome analysis revealed no reduction in survival signaling pathways after BCMA deletion, contradicting prior assumptions.
These findings challenge the role of the APRIL-BCMA axis in plasma cell longevity, suggesting BCMA functions mainly as a soluble decoy receptor.

Menzel et al. (2025) studied this question.

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