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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2000 Mar 29;355(1395):345–350. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2000.0571

B-cell memory and the persistence of antibody responses.

I C MacLennan 1, C García de Vinuesa 1, M Casamayor-Palleja 1
PMCID: PMC1692743  PMID: 10794052

Abstract

Antigens such as viral envelope proteins and bacterial exotoxins induce responses which result in the production of neutralizing antibody. These responses persist for years and provide highly efficient defence against reinfection. During these antibody responses a proportion of participating B cells mutate the genes that encode their immunoglobulin variable regions. This can increase the affinity of the antibody, but can also induce autoreactive B cells. Selection mechanisms operate which allow the cells with high affinity for the provoking antigen to persist, while other B cells recruited into the response die.

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Selected References

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