Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification

The seminal discovery by Eisen that antibodies undergo improvements in antigen-binding affinity over the course of an immune response led to a long running search for the underlying mechanism. Germinal centers in lymphoid organs are now recognized to be critically involved in this phenomenon, known...

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Main Authors: Bannard, O, Cyster, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017
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author Bannard, O
Cyster, J
author_facet Bannard, O
Cyster, J
author_sort Bannard, O
collection OXFORD
description The seminal discovery by Eisen that antibodies undergo improvements in antigen-binding affinity over the course of an immune response led to a long running search for the underlying mechanism. Germinal centers in lymphoid organs are now recognized to be critically involved in this phenomenon, known as antibody affinity maturation. As well as improving in affinity for specific epitopes, some antibody responses maintain or even increase their breadth of antigen-recognition over time. This has led to another intense line of research aimed at understanding how broadly neutralizing anti-pathogen responses are generated. Recent work indicates that germinal centers also play an important role in the diversification process. We discuss current understanding of how germinal centers are programmed to support both affinity maturation and antibody diversification.
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spelling oxford-uuid:36f439fc-d017-494f-b077-83cf66eec0e22022-03-26T13:41:04ZGerminal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversificationJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:36f439fc-d017-494f-b077-83cf66eec0e2EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2017Bannard, OCyster, JThe seminal discovery by Eisen that antibodies undergo improvements in antigen-binding affinity over the course of an immune response led to a long running search for the underlying mechanism. Germinal centers in lymphoid organs are now recognized to be critically involved in this phenomenon, known as antibody affinity maturation. As well as improving in affinity for specific epitopes, some antibody responses maintain or even increase their breadth of antigen-recognition over time. This has led to another intense line of research aimed at understanding how broadly neutralizing anti-pathogen responses are generated. Recent work indicates that germinal centers also play an important role in the diversification process. We discuss current understanding of how germinal centers are programmed to support both affinity maturation and antibody diversification.
spellingShingle Bannard, O
Cyster, J
Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
title Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
title_full Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
title_fullStr Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
title_full_unstemmed Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
title_short Germinal centers: programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
title_sort germinal centers programmed for affinity maturation and antibody diversification
work_keys_str_mv AT bannardo germinalcentersprogrammedforaffinitymaturationandantibodydiversification
AT cysterj germinalcentersprogrammedforaffinitymaturationandantibodydiversification