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Sci. Signal., 23 November 2010
Vol. 3, Issue 149, p. ec360
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.3149ec360]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Immunology Germinal Center Survival

Kristen L. Mueller

Science, AAAS, Washington, DC 20005, USA

The humoral immune response, which comprises antibodies secreted by B lymphocytes, is critical for protection against pathogens. In response to infection, B lymphocytes proliferate and differentiate into antibody-producing effector cells. After an infection clears, a small number of cells persist as memory B cells; however, the survival signals that regulate effector and memory B lymphocyte generation are not well understood. To probe this question, Vikstrom et al. deleted prosurvival genes in activated, antigen-specific B cells during a T lymphocyte–dependent immune response in mice. They found that a specific programmed cell death inhibitor, known as Mcl1, was required for the formation of germinal-center B cells (an effector cell population) and memory B cells but not for their maintenance. Dysregulation of the B cell responses mediated by Mcl1 may be a trigger for lymphomagenesis.

I. Vikstrom, S. Carotta, K. Lüthje, V. Peperzak, P. J. Jost, S. Glaser, M. Busslinger, P. Bouillet, A. Strasser, S. L. Nutt, D. M. Tarlinton, Mcl-1 is essential for germinal center formation and B cell memory. Science 330, 1095–1099 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: K. L. Mueller, Germinal Center Survival. Sci. Signal. 3, ec360 (2010).

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