Very Low Affinity B Cells Form Germinal Centers, Become Memory B Cells, and Participate in Secondary Immune Responses When Higher Affinity Competition Is Reduced

To understand the relationship between the affinity of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) and the immune response to antigen, two lines of immunoglobulin H chain transgenic (Tg) mice were created. H50Gμa and T1(V23)μa mice express μ H chain transgenes that associate with the λ1 L chains to bind the (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl hapten with association constants (K as) of only 1.2 × 105 M−1 and 3 × 104 M−1, respectively. Both lines mounted substantial antibody-forming cell (AFC) and germinal center (GC) responses. H50Gμa Tg mice also generated memory B cells. T1(V23)μa B cells formed AFC and GCs, but were largely replaced in late GCs by antigen-specific cells that express endogenous BCRs. Thus, B lymphocytes carrying BCRs with affinities previously thought to be irrelevant in specific immune responses are in fact capable of complete T cell–dependent immune responses when relieved of substantial competition from other B cells. The failure to observe such B cells normally in late primary responses and in memory B cell populations is the result of competition, rather than an intrinsic inability of low affinity B cells.

• Publication year

  2002

• Venue

  Journal of Experimental Medicine

• Publication date

  2002-05-06

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1084/jem.20011550PMID 11994427PMCID 2193705
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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