Mechanisms by which maternal antibodies influence infant vaccine responses: review of hypotheses and definition of main determinants.
Several mechanisms have been suggested as mediating the inhibitory influence of maternal antibodies (MatAb) on infant responses. This inhibition is B cell determinant-specific, depends on the ratio between MatAb titers at the time of immunization and the dose of vaccine antigen, and leaves infant T cell responses largely unaffected. Neutralization of vaccine replication or FcgammaRIIB-mediated inhibitory signalling to infant B cells would not account for these characteristics. In contrast, determinant-specific masking of B cell epitopes and APC uptake of MatAb:vaccine antigen immune complexes, followed by antigen processing and presentation, explain the pattern of pre-clinical and clinical responses to infant vaccines. This allows the definition of the main determinants of the influence of MatAb on infant immunity.
Siegrist
Claire Anne
CA
Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics, Centre for Vaccinology and Neonatal Immunology, University of Geneva, CMU, 1 rue Michel-Servet, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland. claire-anne.siegrist@medecine.unige.ch
D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000502:physiology*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
D000906:Antibodies; D014612:Vaccines; D014765:Viral Vaccines