Identification of IL-21-induced STAT3 dependent genes in human B cells

IL-21 induces B cell activation, and differentiation into antibody-secreting plasmablasts in vitro. This process is abolished by loss-of function mutations in STAT3 We used microarrays to identify genes that are induced by IL-21 in a STAT3-dependent manner Sort-purified naïve B cells from four healthy donors and three patients with AD-HIES due to heterozygous STAT3 mutations were cultured for four days with CD40L in the presence or absence of IL-21 (50ng/ml). After four days, RNA was extracted from the harvested cells and the genetic profile was analysed by microarray.