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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2012 Aug;45(4):807–822. doi: 10.1016/j.otc.2012.04.005

Figure 3. Mechanism of Preventative Vaccines in Inducing Humoral Immune Responses After Vaccination.

Figure 3

The quadrivalent and bivalent HPV vaccines consist of the L1 capsid protein which self-assembles into virus-like particles (VLP). The humoral immune system is activated by the A) recognition of the virus-like particles (VLP) by a B cell surface immunoglobulin. B) The VLP is internalized and degraded into peptides, which C) are then presented to CD4+ Helper T cells via MHC class II molecules. D) An activated B cell then proliferates and differentiates into an antibody-secreting plasma cell. These circulating antibodies then recognize and bind HPV to prevent viral infection of an epithelial cell.[78]