Understanding the germinal centre B cell response to atherosclerosis in mice using lineage tracing

Abstract

Background and Aims: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterised by plaque build-up within arterial walls initiated by LDL. The immunogenic oxidation of LDL creates self-reactive antigens which drive inflammatory processes underlying the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. It has been shown that the germinal centre (GC) response, the process by which high affinity plasma and memory B cells are formed, is pathogenically dysregulated in atherosclerosis, and that class-switched plasma cells (PCs) infiltrate into human diseased vascular tissue along with increased titres of proinflammatory IgG antibodies in serum.