Humoral immunity due to long-lived plasma cells
Humoral immunity due to long-lived plasma cells
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DOI:
10.1016/s1074-7613(00)80541-5
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发表时间:
1998-03-01
期刊:
影响因子:
32.4
通讯作者:
Ahmed, R
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Slifka, MK;Antia, R;Ahmed, R
Conventional models suggest that long-term antibody responses are maintained by the continuous differentiation of memory B cells into antibody-secreting plasma cells. This is based on the notion that plasma cells are short-lived and need to be continually replenished by memory B cells. We examined the issue of plasma cell longevity by following the persistence of LCMV-specific antibody and plasma cell numbers after in vivo depletion of memory B cells and by adoptive transfer of virus-specific plasma cells into naive mice. The results show that a substantial fraction of plasma cells can survive and continue to secrete antibody for extended periods of time (>1 year) in the absence of any detectable memory B cells. This study documents the existence of long-lived plasma cells and demonstrates a new mechanism by which humoral immunity is maintained.