B cells tagged posts

This is an X-ray crystal structure image of one of the new signature antibodies. The blue ribbons show antibody 16.a.26 Fab regions. The grey ribbons represent HA of influenza strain 1968 Hong Kong. The green spheres are glycans. Credit: NIAID VRC

Scientists have identified 3 types of vaccine-induced antibodies that can neutralize diverse strains of influenza virus that infect humans. It will help guide development of a universal influenza vaccine, according to investigators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and collaborators who conducted the research.

The seasonal influenza vaccine must be updated each year because flu viruses mutate...

The immune system produces antibodies finely tuned to antigens. Recent research describes how the interaction between T cells (green) and B cells (blue) allows this to take place. Bystander B cells and antigen appear in red.
Credit: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at The Rockefeller University

Cell Division speeds up as part of antibody selection. Mechanisms that favor selection of B cells capable of producing antibodies with highest affinity for that invader. “2 of the mechanisms that allow high affinity B cells to overwhelm the others,” says Alex Gitlin.

During an infection, B + other immune cells form germinal centers in spleen and lymph nodes, where B cells evolve in a Darwinian-like fashion...