Theander, 1 in this issue, provides an important contribution with the article 'Lymphoid organization in labial sali-vary gland biopsies is a possible predictor for the development of malignant lym-phoma in primary Sjögren's syndrome'. It has been known for many years that ectopic germinal centres are present in minor salivary gland biopsies of a sub-population of patients with Sjögren's syndro...

Gonad morphology at the gross anatomical or histological levels has long been studied by fisheries biologists to identify annual reproductive cycles and length of breeding season, among other goals. Comparative surveys across vertebrate taxa have not been detailed enough, however, to describe fully the differences and similarities among gonads of bony fishes and other vertebrates, and to use go...

YY1 has been implicated as a master regulator of germinal center B cell development as YY1 binding sites are frequently present in promoters of germinal center-expressed genes. YY1 is known to be important for other stages of B cell development including the pro-B and pre-B cells stages. To determine if YY1 plays a critical role in germinal center development, we evaluated YY1 expression during...

Somatic mutation of Ig variable regions occurs prominently in germinal centers, but it has been debated whether the mutation process initiates in germinal centers or is activated before germinal center entry of B cells. We have analyzed for the presence of somatic mutation in Ig gene rearrangements of the nonpolymorphic human VH6 gene in the X-linked HyperIgM syndrome, which is associated with ...

introduction: obstructive cholestasis is associated with overproduction of endogenous opioids (eop) ,nitric oxide (no) and cytokines in the blood stream. these consequences can affect sex hormones. sincefertility is a result of physiological balance of sex hormones, we investigated the relationship betweenobstructive cholestasis and sex hormones and apoptotic germ cells in adult male rats. mate...

Multiple distinct memory B-cell subsets have been identified in humans, but it remains unclear how their phenotypic diversity corresponds to the type of responses from which they originate. Especially, the contribution of germinal center-independent responses in humans remains controversial. We defined 6 memory B-cell subsets based on their antigen-experienced phenotype and differential express...

BACKGROUND Fractalkine/CX(3)CL1, a surface chemokine, binds to CX(3)CR1 expressed by different lymphocyte subsets. Since CX(3)CL1 has been detected in the germinal centres of secondary lymphoid tissue, in this study we have investigated CX(3)CR1 expression and function in human naïve, germinal centre and memory B cells isolated from tonsil or peripheral blood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS W...