title: B cell activation state-governed formation of germinal centers following viral infection.
abstract: Germinal centers are structures that promote humoral memory cell formation and affinity maturation, but the triggers for their development are not entirely clear. Activated extrafollicular B cells can form IgM-producing plasmablasts or enter a germinal center reaction and differentiate into memory or plasma cells, mostly of the IgG isotype. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) induces both types of response, allowing events that promote each of these pathways to be studied. In this work, extrafollicular vs germinal center responses were examined at a cellular level, analyzing VSV-specific B cells in infected mice. We show that VSV-specific germinal centers are transiently formed when insufficient proportions of specific T cell help is available and that strong B cell activation in cells expressing high levels of the VSV-specific BCR promoted their differentiation into early blasts, whereas moderate stimulation of B cells or interaction with Th cells restricted extrafollicular responses and promoted germinal center formation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. katja.fink@novartis.com
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Nataly
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manjarrez-Orduño
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schildknecht
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Beatrice M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Senn
authors.forename: Rolf M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zinkernagel
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hengartner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000276:immunology; D018353:Rhabdoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D014721:Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D002118:Calcium