B cell trophic factors and B cell antagonism in autoimmune disease The understanding of B cell biology has increased and expanded enormously in the last three decades. It is now known that B cells in addition to just differentiating into antibody secreting cells serve many other vital functions. For example their roles as antigen presenting cells and cytokine producing cells as well as effector cells and regulatory cells are well appreciated now. Indeed the pathologic role of B cells in many autoimmune disorders may be largely autoantibody independent. Today the B cell is of considerable interest not only to immunologists but also to mainstream clinicians and scientists.The current volume covers the latest information on the functions of B cells in normal and disease states and their therapeutic antagonism. Chapters cover cutting edge topics from the basic to the clinical including B cells in infection and autoimmunity CD19–CD21 signal transduction complex marginal zone B cell physiology and disease B cell growth and differentiation their role in rheumatoid arthritis SLE treatment the BAFF APRIL system and B lymphocyte malignancies.This book is recommended reading for cellular and molecular immunologists as well as for rheumatologists hematologists and clinical immunologists and all those interested in human diseases in which B cells play an important contributory role