B cell repertoire and ageing.
A diverse B cell repertoire is essential for an effective immune response. Not only to provide a variety of antibodies to recognise the multiplicity of likely pathogen challenge, but also because B cells are important regulators of the immune response. In addition to their excellent capabilities as antigen presenting and activating cells, recent work shows that some subpopulations of B cells can have suppressive functions. The diversity of the B cell population as a whole decreases with age, and is associated with ill health. Whether decreased diversity is a feature of all B cells or a reflection of altered subpopulations is not clear, since different subsets of B cells have different functions and their repertoires are shaped by different selection pressures.
Department of Immunobiology, King's College London School of Medicine, Guy's Campus, London SE1 9RT, UK. Deborah.dunn-walters@kcl.ac.uk
Deborah K
DK
Dunn-Walters
Alexander A
AA
Ademokun
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral