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- Title
Reply to 'On the implications of polyclonal B cell activation'.
- Authors
Hunziker, Lukas; Recher, Mike; Macpherson, Andrew J.; Hengartner, Hans; Zinkernagel, Rolf M.
- Abstract
As researchers point out, some polyclonality of the antibody response is widely seen after immunization or infection. This is almost certainly beneficial in generating inflammatory and antibacterial responses through chemotaxis and complement fixation; however, it is detrimental in autoimmunity. It is more difficult to be sure about the relevance of the polyclonal responses to B cell memory, because this requires longitudinal studies of a complex repertoire in which somatic mutation, receptor editing and class-switch recombination will all be operative. The physiological relevance of polyclonal B cell activation differs according to the infectious agent. It is well known that patients with agammaglobulinemia are protected against extracellular bacterial infections by pooled gammaglobulin preparations, and some natural antibodies are also experimentally protective in rodents, so amplification of the natural repertoire will be beneficial. The repetitive nature of the capsular polysaccharides of extracellular bacteria means that even low-affinity antibodies can bind well enough to fix complement and opsonize.
- Subjects
IMMUNOGLOBULINS; IMMUNIZATION; B cells; AUTOIMMUNITY; AGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA; SACCHARIDES; PATIENTS
- Publication
Nature Immunology, 2003, Vol 4, Issue 10, p932
- ISSN
1529-2908
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/ni1003-932