Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Generation And Utilization Of Diverse Memory B Cells After Flavivirus Challenges, Rachel Wong
Generation And Utilization Of Diverse Memory B Cells After Flavivirus Challenges, Rachel Wong
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Over the course of an effective immune response to an infection, two distinct B cell populations are generated to provide protection against reinfection, long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) and memory B cells (MBCs). LLPCs and MBCs originate from germinal center (GC) B cells that have undergone B cell receptor (BCR) affinity maturation through iterative rounds of somatic hypermutation, proliferation, and selection. Thus, LLPCs and MBCs can bind to their antigen with higher affinity than their naïve B cell precursors. LLPCs constitutively secrete antibodies and can provide sterilizing immunity that pre-exists subsequent infections. MBCs, on the other hand, are quiescent and provide …