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Germinal center B and follicular helper T cells: siblings, cousins or just good friends?

Abstract

Humoral immunity requires interaction between specialized populations of B cells and CD4+ T cells, called follicular helper T cells (TFH cells), in the germinal center (GC) to produce memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells. Molecular crosstalk between GC B cells and TFH cells influences the survival, proliferation and differentiation of each cell type. This pairing of GC B cells and TFH cells also occurs at the transcriptional level as the Bcl-6–IRF4–Blimp-1 axis, which is crucial for B cell differentiation, is also essential for the TFH cell identity. Less is known about the memory B cells that arise from the GC pool, as they seem to be distinctly 'programmed' on the basis of their antigen receptor affinity to enter the long-lived memory pool.

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Figure 1: Multiple signals control the GC output.
Figure 2: Molecular interactions in the GC.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by Pfizer Australia (S.L.N.), the Australian Research Council (S.L.N.) and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (D.M.T.).

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Nutt, S., Tarlinton, D. Germinal center B and follicular helper T cells: siblings, cousins or just good friends?. Nat Immunol 12, 472–477 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.2019

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