B Cells from Aged Mice Do Not Have Intrinsic Defects in Affinity Maturation in Response to Immunization.

ABSTRACT: Affinity maturation, the progressive increase in serum Ab affinity after vaccination, is an essential process that contributes to an effective humoral response against vaccines and infections. Germinal centers are key for affinity maturation, because they are where B cells undergo somatic hypermutation of their Ig genes in the dark zone before going through positive selection in the light zone via interactions with T follicular helper cells and follicular dendritic cells. In aged mice, affinity maturation has been shown to be impaired after immunization, but whether B cell-intrinsic factors contribute to this defect remains unclear. In this study, we show that B cells from aged BCR transgenic mice are able to become germinal center B cells, which are capable of receiving positive selection

SUBMITTER: Lee JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10627434 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature