PNAS interpretation! Deeply reveal the mystery of B cells and why humans produce trillions of special antibodies to fight diseases!

February 24, 2021 // - Recently, an article was published in the international magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled "Permissive selection followed by affinity-based proliferation of GC light zone B cells dictates cell fate and ensures clonal In the "breadth" research report, scientists from the Creek Institute and other institutions have revealed the mystery of B cells and why the human body produces trillions of antibodies that can resist viruses.

The production of antibodies is the core content of people’s health and survival, such as the probability of patients recovering from COVID-19, and how vaccines prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in the body; in a lifetime, humans can produce 10 trillion differences The number of antibody molecules is so amazing that it often makes people feel that it is difficult for the body to achieve.

Image source: PNAS (2021).

Facts have proved that evolution will produce many mechanisms to solve this mismatch.

These extraordinary biological events (customization of antibodies and the formation of memories of invaders by B cells) often occur in the germinal center of lymph nodes, which is a place with a boundary between light and dark areas; the germinal center is where B cells are activated and proliferated.

In this study, the researchers deeply understood the activity of the germinal center, how B cells are activated, and how immunoglobulins achieve their amazing breadth and diversity.

Researchers are currently studying a process called affinity maturation in the germinal centers of lymph nodes.

The germinal center is an active "honeycomb".

Researcher Nakagawa said that cMyc is also involved in the mechanism of the germinal center, and it plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of the lymph node center throughout the body; cMyc is a 62 kilodalton composed of 439 amino acids.

Although researchers are currently redefining light and dark areas, their research is also based on decades of research, which has clarified how B cells and antibodies mature and become key forces against immune defense.

Reference materials:

[1] Rinako Nakagawa, Amparo Toboso-Navasa, Marta Schips, et al.