Abstract
The success of vaccines is dependent on the generation and maintenance of immunological memory. The immune system can remember previously encountered pathogens, and memory B and T cells are critical in secondary responses to infection. Studies in mice have helped to understand how different memory B cell populations are generated following antigen exposure and how affinity for the antigen is determinant to B cell fate. Additionally, such studies were fundamental in defining memory B cell niches and how B cells respond following subsequent exposure with the same antigen. On the other hand, human studies are essential to the development of better, newer vaccines but sometimes limited by the difficulty to access primary and secondary lymphoid organs. However, work using human influenza and HIV virus infection and/or immunization in particular has significantly advanced today's understanding of memory B cells. This review will focus on the generation, function, and longevity of B-cell mediated immunological memory (memory B cells and plasma cells) in response to infection and vaccination both in mice and in humans.
Highlights
One of the hallmarks of our immune system is the ability to “remember” past exposure to pathogens
Humoral immunological memory is mediated in part by serum antibodies secreted by long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs), these cells are usually not described as memory B cells
A more recent study of the same populations but this time in response to influenza virus vaccination suggests that newly generated antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) can acquire a mature plasma cell phenotype that is accompanied by loss of CD19 expression at an early stage of differentiation, and that aging is not an obligate requirement for a CD19− state to be established [101]
Summary
The immune system can remember previously encountered pathogens, and memory B and T cells are critical in secondary responses to infection. Studies in mice have helped to understand how different memory B cell populations are generated following antigen exposure and how affinity for the antigen is determinant to B cell fate. Such studies were fundamental in defining memory B cell niches and how B cells respond following subsequent exposure with the same antigen. This review will focus on the generation, function, and longevity of B-cell mediated immunological memory (memory B cells and plasma cells) in response to infection and vaccination both in mice and in humans
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