Biology subjects

Dornisch, E. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Dornisch, E. M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Multi-omic profiling of human antibody-secreting cells reveals diverse subsets sustain durable humoral immunity

Antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) provide humoral immunity that can mediate lifelong protection against pathogens. Current classifications cannot delineate the heterogenous functionalities, tissue residencies, and lifespans of human ASC subsets, impeding clinical translation. We applied multi-omic sequencing, spatial proteomics, and functional assays to discover and characterize human bone marrow (BM) ASC subsets. We identified two peripheral subsets (ASCp) also present in blood and three BM-resident subsets (ASCr), comprising a maturation continuum associated with increased mitochondrial networking, diminished antibody secretion, differential transcription factor motif accessibility, and preferential co-localization in homotypic niches. CD19+9+ASCr and CD19-ASCr exhibited poor recovery years after BM transplantation, indicating a strong dependence on supportive niches. Childhood vaccine antigens were recognized by long-lived ASCr subsets in adults and by immature HLA-DR+ASCp, implying ASCs can differentiate without recent antigen exposure. Our results provide new insights into ASC identity, maturation, and longevity and a generalizable framework for study and manipulation of human ASCs.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2024

Systemic inflammation and lymphocyte activation precede rheumatoid arthritis

Some autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are preceded by a critical subclinical phase of disease activity. Proactive clinical management is hampered by a lack of biological understanding of this subclinical at-risk state and the changes underlying disease development. In a cross-sectional and longitudinal multi-omics study of peripheral immunity in the autoantibody-positive at-risk for RA period, we identified systemic inflammation, proinflammatory-skewed B cells, expanded Tfh17-like cells, epigenetic bias in naive T cells, TNF+IL1B+ monocytes resembling a synovial macrophage population, and CD4 T cell transcriptional features resembling those suppressed by abatacept (CTLA4-Ig) in RA patients. Our findings characterize pathogenesis prior to clinical diagnosis and suggest the at-risk state exhibits substantial immune alterations that could potentially be targeted for early intervention to delay or prevent autoimmunity. We provide a suite of tools at https://apps.allenimmunology.org/aifi/insights/ra-progression/ to facilitate exploration and enhance accessibility of this extensive dataset. One Sentence SummaryACPA+ at-risk individuals show RA-like inflammation and multi-compartment immune dysregulation during transition to clinically active RA

immunology↗

bioRxiv2024

Longitudinal Multi-omic Immune Profiling Reveals Age-Related Immune Cell Dynamics in Healthy Adults

The generation and maintenance of protective immunity is a dynamic interplay between host and environment that is impacted by age. Understanding fundamental changes in the healthy immune system that occur over a lifespan is critical in developing interventions for age-related susceptibility to infections and diseases. Here, we use multi-omic profiling (scRNA-seq, proteomics, flow cytometry) to examined human peripheral immunity in over 300 healthy adults, with 96 young and older adults followed over two years with yearly vaccination. The resulting resource includes scRNA-seq datasets of >16 million PBMCs, interrogating 71 immune cell subsets from our new Immune Health Atlas. This study allows unique insights into the composition and transcriptional state of immune cells at homeostasis, with vaccine perturbation, and across age. We find that T cells specifically accumulate age-related transcriptional changes more than other immune cells, independent from inflammation and chronic perturbation. Moreover, impaired memory B cell responses to vaccination are linked to a Th2-like state shift in older adults memory CD4 T cells, revealing possible mechanisms of immune dysregulation during healthy human aging. This extensive resource is provided with a suite of exploration tools at https://apps.allenimmunology.org/aifi/insights/dynamics-imm-health-age/ to enhance data accessibility and further the understanding of immune health across age.

immunology↗