The prototypic autoimmune disease, SLE, is known to be associated with polyclonal B cell
hyperreactivity. Developing an understanding of the complex nature of human B cell
differentiation, largely through the application of multiparameter flow cytometry to an
analysis of circulating B cells has permitted an assessment of whether specific stages of B
cell maturation are affected by the tendency for polyclonal B cell activation. Moreover, the
analysis of perturbations of the specific stages of B cell maturation has generated new …