B-cell superantigens: implications for selection of the human antibody repertoire.
For several decades, B-cell interactions with antigens were thought to occur only through a clonal activation mechanism, in which the hypervariable regions of the immunoglobulin receptor are exclusively involved in ligand binding. However, an additional mode of interaction can occur, whereby molecules, termed B-cell superantigens, can bind human B cells bearing immunoglobulin receptors of a given variable (V)-gene family. This mechanism requires contributions from regions outside the conventional hypervariable loops and results in a B-cell response of increased magnitude. Here, Moncef Zouali reviews recent in vitro and in vivo observations on human B-cell superantigens in the context of the current consensus of B-cell development, and discusses the implications of these novel concepts with respect to pathogenesis.
Zouali
M
M
Dept of Immunology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
D000916:Antibody Diversity; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D018089:Superantigens / Q000276:immunology*
D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D018089:Superantigens