Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern recognition receptors that trigger innate immunity. In this study we investigated the expression of 10 TLRs in human naive and memory B-cell subsets. We report that in human naive B cells most TLRs are expressed at low to undetectable levels, but the expression of TLR9 and TLR10 is rapidly induced following B-cell-receptor (BCR) triggering. In contrast, me...

One component of memory in the antibody system is long-lived memory B cells selected for the expression of somatically mutated, high-affinity antibodies in the T cell-dependent germinal center (GC) reaction. A puzzling observation has been that the memory B cell compartment also contains cells expressing unmutated, low-affinity antibodies. Using conditional Bcl6 ablation, we demonstrate that th...

In mice, experimental infection with Trypanosoma brucei causes decreased bone marrow B-cell development, abolished splenic B-cell maturation and loss of antibody mediated protection including vaccine induced memory responses. Nothing is known about this phenomenon in human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), but if occurring, it would imply the need of revaccination of HAT patients after therapy and...

The integrin a 4 b 7 mediates lymphocyte binding to mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1, and its expression defines lymphocytes capable of trafficking through the intestines and the intestinal lymphoid tissues. We examined the ability of discrete a 4 b 7 hi and a 4 b 7 2 subsets of circulating memory phenotype (CD45RA 2 ) CD4 1 T cells to proliferate in response to rotavirus, a ubiquitou...

After pulmonary virus infection, virus-binding B cells ectopically accumulate in the lung. However, their contribution to protective immunity against reinfecting viruses remains unknown. Here, we show the phenotypes and protective functions of virus-binding memory B cells that persist in the lung following pulmonary infection with influenza virus. A fraction of virus-binding B-cell population i...

Functional diversity in the distinct developmental stages as well as anti-pathogen effectiveness and memory functionality make B cells unique and attractive object of physiology studies of the immune system. B cells are produced throughout the life of an organism, originate from the hematopoietic stem cells before birth and continue to differentiate to terminal stages. Over the past decade, the...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) establishes a lifelong persistent infection within peripheral blood B cells with the surface phenotype of memory cells. To date there is no proof that these cells have the genotype of true germinal-center-derived memory B cells. It is critical to understand the relative contribution of viral mimicry versus antigen signaling to the production of these cells because EBV e...

We present evidence here for two stages in B-memory cell development, the first of which is T independent and the second T dependent. For these studies, we use a new type of T-deficient mouse (allotype suppressed) which specifically lacks T-helper activity (Th) for a subset of memory B cells responsible for approximately 10% of the overall IgG antibody response. We have shown elsewhere that the...