The TLR9 ligand CpG promotes the acquisition of Plasmodium falciparum-specific memory B cells in malaria-naive individuals.

ABSTRACT: Despite the central role of memory B cells (MBC) in protective immune responses, little is understood about how they are acquired in naive individuals in response to Ag exposure, and how this process is influenced by concurrent activation of the innate immune system's TLR. In this longitudinal study of malaria-naive individuals, we examined the MBC response to two candidate malaria vaccines administered with or without CpG, a TLR9 ligand. We show that the acquisition of MBC is a dynamic process in which the vaccine-specific MBC pool rapidly expands and then contracts, and that CpG enhances the kinetics, magnitude, and longevity of this response. We observed that the percentage of vaccine-specific MBC present at the time of reimmunization predicts vaccine-specific Ab levels 14 days later; a

SUBMITTER: Crompton PD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2910392 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature