The Global Self-Reactivity Profile of the Natural Antibody Repertoire Is Largely Independent of Germline DH Sequence.

ABSTRACT: Natural antibodies (NAbs) are produced in the absence of exogenous antigenic stimulation and circulate in the blood of normal, healthy individuals. These antibodies have been shown to provide one of the first lines of defense against both bacterial and viral pathogens. Conservation of the NAb repertoire reactivity profile is observed both within and across species. One view holds that this conservation of NAb self-reactivities reflects the use of germline antibody sequence, whereas the opposing view holds that the self-reactivities reflect selection driven by key conserved self-antigens. In mice, B-1a B cells are a major source of NAbs. A significant fraction of the B-1a antibody repertoire is devoid of N nucleotides in H chain complementarity determining region 3 (CDR-H3) and, thus, compl

SUBMITTER: Vale AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4979587 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature