Selection in the germinal center
Abstract
Germinal centers (GCs) are well known for their important role in shaping the secondary B cell repertoire to generate antibodies capable of binding with high-affinity and specificity to foreign antigens. Somatic hypermutation of the Ig variable region genes in GC B cells represents a highly efficient mechanism for generating new antibody variants with increased antigen affinity. To be effective, however, this process needs to be intimately linked with equally efficient processes that positively select high-affinity clones for perpetuation in the GC and, ultimately, for differentiation into plasma cell and memory B cell effector populations. Just as important is the need for mechanisms of negative selection that remove GC B cell clones with unwanted specificities, particularly those that have gained reactivity with self-components. Here, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the various selective processes that occur within the GC and identify the major questions in this field that remain to be answered.
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Persistent clones expand without accumulating large numbers of additional mutations, indicating that clonal expansion of human memory B cells does not require re-entry into germinal centres and occurs in the activated B cell compartment.
“The persistent clones expand without accumulating large numbers of additional mutations, indicating that clonal expansion of human memory B cells does not require re-entry into germinal centres and occurs in the activated B cell compartment17,27–31.”
From Naturally enhanced neutralizing breadth against SARS-CoV-2 one year after infection (2021) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Lau, A. W., & Brink, R.
- Affiliations
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Brink, Robert
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Immunology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-04
- Volume
- 63
- Pages
- 29-34
- ISSN
- 0952-7915 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2994764311
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10
- FWCI
- 0.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Immunology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Lymphoma Diagnosis and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research
- Keywords
- germinal center, B cell selection, somatic hypermutation, positive selection, negative selection, affinity maturation, B cell receptor, plasma cells, memory B cells, autoreactivity, antibody repertoire
- MeSH terms
- Animals, B-Lymphocytes, Humans, Germinal Center
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