The Journal of Experimental Medicine
VeriKine-HS Human IFN-Beta
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 611K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JEM
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Arpin, C.
Right arrow Articles by Liu, Y.-J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Arpin, C.
Right arrow Articles by Liu, Y.-J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?
© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1997/9/931/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 186, Number 6, September 15, 1997 931-940

Articles

Memory B Cells Are Biased Towards Terminal Differentiation: A Strategy That May Prevent Repertoire Freezing

Christophe Arpin, Jacques Banchereau, and Yong-Jun Liu

From Schering-Plough, Laboratory for Immunological Research, 69571 Dardilly, France

Isolation of large numbers of surface IgD+CD38– naive and surface IgD–CD38– memory B cells allowed us to study the intrinsic differences between these two populations. Upon in vitro culture with IL-2 and IL-10, human CD40–activated memory B cells undergo terminal differentiation into plasma cells more readily than do naive B cells, as they give rise to five- to eightfold more plasma cells and three- to fourfold more secreted immunoglobulins. By contrast, naive B cells give rise to a larger number of nondifferentiated B blasts. Saturating concentrations of CD40 ligand, which fully inhibit naive B cell differentiation, only partially affect that of memory B cells. The propensity of memory B cells to undergo terminal plasma cell differentiation may explain the extensive extra follicular plasma cell reaction and the limited germinal center reaction observed in vivo after secondary immunizations, which contrast with primary responses in carrier-primed animals. This unique feature of memory B cells may confer two important capacities to the immune system: (a) the rapid generation of a large number of effector cells to efficiently eliminate the pathogens; and (b) the prevention of the overexpansion and chronic accumulation of one particular memory B cell clone that would freeze the available peripheral repertoire.

Address correspondence to Dr. Yong-Jun Liu, Schering-Plough, 27 chemin des Peupliers, BP 11, 69571 Dardilly Cedex, France. Phone: 33-4-72-17-27-00; FAX: 33-4-78-35-47-50; E-mail: lir{at}schering-plough.fr

C. Arpin is the recipient of a grant from Fondation Mérieux.

1 Abbreviations used in this paper: BCR, B cell receptor; CD40L, CD40 ligand; GC, germinal center; PC, plasma cell.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search
TABLE OF CONTENTS