The role of germinal centers for antiviral B cell responses |
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Authors: | Dr. Martin F. Bachmann |
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Affiliation: | 1. Ontario Cancer Institute, Departments of Medical Biophysics and Immunology, Univerisity of Toronto, M5G 2M9, Ontario, Canada
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Abstract: | Germinal centers (GCs) are crucially involved in T cell-dependent B cell responses. B cells rapidly proliferate within GCs and their Ig variable region genes undergo hypermutation. Cognate T helper cells and antigen presented in native form on follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) select B cells expressing high-affinity Igs, leading to affinity maturation and the generation of memory B cells. In addition to these well-established functions of GCs, this article presents evidence that they also play a crucial role for the maintenance of specific memory Ig titers and for the prevention of viral antibody escape mutants. |
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