Follicular lymphoma: too many reminders for a memory B cell.
Memory B cells are a dynamic subset of the mature B cell population that in some cases can reenter germinal centers (GCs) in response to iterative infections. Such a reactivation can lead to accumulation of genetic lesions in these cells, potentially from repetitive activation of the B cell mutator enzyme AID. Normal memory B cells do not survive repeated reentries into GCs. In this issue, Sungalee et al. demonstrate that memory B cells harboring the oncogenic BCL2:IGH translocation, which results in constitutive BCL2 expression, survive multiple GC entries upon repetitive immunization. Through these multiple GC reentries, the hallmark BCL2:IGH translocation enables AID-induced hypermutation and propagates clonal evolution toward malignant follicular lymphoma.
Srividya
S
Swaminathan
Markus
M
Müschen
D000818:Animals; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000378:metabolism*; D002465:Cell Movement; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C052617:Bcl2 protein, mouse