C.M. Högerkorp, S. Bilke, T. Breslin, S. Ingvarsson and C. Borrebaeck CD44 Stimulated Human B Cells Express Transcripts Specifically Involved in Immunomodulation and Inflammation as Analyzed by DNA Microarrays Blood 101, 2307-2313 (2003) Abstract: A number of studies have implicated a role for the cell surface glycoprotein CD44 in several biological events, such as lymphopoiesis, homing, lymphocyte activation and apoptosis. We have earlier reported that signaling via CD44 on naive B cells in addition to BCR and CD40 engagement generated a germinal center like phenotype. To further characterize the global role of CD44 in B differentiation, we examined the expression profile of human B cells cultured in vitro in the presence or absence of CD44 ligation, together with anti-Ig and anti-CD40 antibodies. The data sets derived from DNA microarrays were analyzed employing a novel statistical analysis scheme created to retrieve the most likely expression pattern of CD44 ligation. Our results show that genes, such as IL-6, IL-1a and b2-AR were specifically up-regulated by CD44 ligation, suggesting a novel role for CD44 in immunoregulation and inflammation. LU TP 02-26