Advances in human B cell phenotypic profiling

To advance our understanding and treatment of disease, research immunologists have been called-upon to place more centralized emphasis on impactful human studies. Such endeavors will inevitably require large-scale study execution and data management regulation (Big Biology), necessitating standardiz...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Denise A Kaminski, Chungwen eWei, Yu eQian, Alexander F. Rosenberg, Ignacio eSanz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2012-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Immunology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fimmu.2012.00302/full
Description
Summary:To advance our understanding and treatment of disease, research immunologists have been called-upon to place more centralized emphasis on impactful human studies. Such endeavors will inevitably require large-scale study execution and data management regulation (Big Biology), necessitating standardized and reliable metrics of immune status and function. A well-known example setting this large-scale effort in-motion is identifying correlations between eventual disease outcome and T lymphocyte phenotype in large HIV-patient cohorts using multiparameter flow cytometry. However, infection, immunodeficiency, and autoimmunity are also characterized by correlative and functional contributions of B lymphocytes, which to-date have received much less attention in the human Big Biology enterprise. Here, we review progress in human B cell phenotyping, analysis, and bioinformatics tools that constitute valuable resources for the B cell research community to effectively join in this effort.
ISSN:1664-3224