B Cells and B Cell Blasts Withstand Cryopreservation While Retaining Their Functionality for Producing Antibody.

ABSTRACT: In individuals who have once developed humoral immunity to an infectious/foreign antigen, the antibodies present in their body can mediate instant protection when the antigen re-enters. Such antigen-specific antibodies can be readily detected in the serum. Long term humoral immunity is, however, also critically dependent on the ability of memory B cells to engage in a secondary antibody response upon re-exposure to the antigen. Antibody molecules in the body are short lived, having a half-life of weeks, while memory B cells have a life span of decades. Therefore, the presence of serum antibodies is not always a reliable indicator of B cell memory and comprehensive monitoring of humoral immunity requires that both serum antibodies and memory B cells be assessed. The prevailing view is that

SUBMITTER: Fecher P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6028916 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature