An antigen to remember: regulation of B cell memory in health and disease

Publication date: April 2017
Source:Current Opinion in Immunology, Volume 45
Author(s): Aleta Pupovac, Kim L Good-Jacobson
Vaccine success relies on the formation of immunity. Humoral immunity is critical and is mediated by long-lived antibody-secreting cells and memory B cells (MBCs). Chronic infectious diseases cause a significant global burden of disease; pathogens that evade the immune system can cause phenotypical and functional changes to immune memory populations. Thus, recent studies have focused on MBC subset function. IgM⁺ MBCs have emerged as important early responders in malaria. Atypical MBCs have functional qualities associated with exhaustion in chronic infectious diseases, but the requirements for their formation and where they localize remains unknown. Similarly, the T-bet-driven transcriptional program drives formation of MBCs phenotypically similar to atypical MBCs. Identifying protective or detrimental roles of MBC subsets, and their regulators, will be important for clinical intervention.



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