A scientific team has developed a laboratory model that reveals how antibody-producing plasma cells migrate, mature and survive within human bone marrow, a main location of long-lived antibody-producing plasma cells. The platform combines a lymph node-mimicking organoid with a tissue chip that mimics bone marrow, allowing scientists to observe key stages of plasma cell development that have been difficult to study in humans.

Analysis of the cells in the tissue chip provides essential new information that advances our understanding of plasma cell development and function. This model also supports testing of new therapies for infection prevention, inhibition of allergy and reduction of autoimmunity. The study is published in Science Advances.

“This innovative bioengineering platform provides a window into a hidden aspect of the function of the human immune system,” said John H. Powers III, M.D., acting director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).