Nurse-like cells (NLCs) established from bone marrow and synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were found to promote maturation and differentiation of B lineage cells as well as T cells. In co-culture of RA-NLCs and B cells, tight physical interactions (pseudoemperipolesis) developed, which resulted in activation of both cell types. RA-NLCs also supported myeloid cell maturation, promoting their differentiation into tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive mononuclear cells, which are precursor cells of osteoclasts. In RA synovial tissue, the characteristic dendritic-shaped cells (the DCs) were electron microscopically found to form direct physical interactions with adjacent plasma cells (PCs) suspecting to be pseudoemperipolesis. The numbers of PCs accumulating in various areas tended to correlate with the numbers of the DCs, which appeared to have RA-NLC functions forming survival niches for PCs. Immunohistochemical staining analysis indicated that CD14+ cells including the DCs formed survival niches for CD138+ PCs by RA-NLC functions. Quantitative dual immunofluorescence staining studies of these areas indicated that the majority of CD14+ cells were of myeloid lineage. These survival niches promoted by RA-NLCs appear to play important roles in supporting immunological functions in RA bone marrow and synovial tissues.
Keywords: Nurse-like cell; bone marrow; rheumatoid arthritis; survival niche; synovial tissue.