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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Autoimmun Rev. 2012 Feb 14;11(11):787–789. doi: 10.1016/j.autrev.2012.02.004

Figure 1. BCR specificity dictates selective outcome at multiple checkpoints.

Figure 1

B cells that interact avidly with soluble autoantigens are purged from the active repertoire at several stages of ontogeny by negative selection. We propose an additional process whereby mature B cells can acquire a new autoreactivity by receptor revision or somatic mutation [28]. The creation and survival of such autoreactive cells would depend on abnormal immunoregulation, such as ongoing T-cell help. (Figure modified from M.P. Cancro [29]).