The evolution of immune memory and germinal centers.
Antibody responses in homoiothermic and poikilothermic vertebrates are significantly different in their heterogeneity and affinity range, and in the speed of the secondary response following repeated antigenic stimulation. This article presents the hypothesis that the evolutionary development of unique lymphoid structures, the germinal centers, in combination with the development of a distinct B-cell lineage, is a determining feature of these differences.
Nahm
M H
MH
Dept of Pathology, Washington University, School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110.
Kroese
F G
FG
Hoffmann
J W
JW
D000818:Animals; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008211:Lymphocyte Cooperation; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*