Figure 1.

Model schematic. The box at the top left shows the epitopes of the WU- and OM-vaccine antigens. Epitope C (shown in orange) is common to both vaccines. Epitopes W (blue) and O (green) are unique to the WU and OM respectively. Antibodies specific to these epitopes can bind to these epitopes and prevent them from stimulating B cells for the same epitope. A bound epitope is denoted by ‘X’ in the schematic (for example, WU_CX indicates that the ‘W’ epitope of the WU antigen is bound to its cognate antibody). The different antigen states generated and the B cells they stimulate are shown in the top right and bottom panels respectively. The bottom panel illustrates that binding of antigen to B cells stimulates their clonal expansion and the production of antibodies.