title: The generation of antibody-secreting plasma cells.
abstract: The regulation of antibody production is linked to the generation and maintenance of plasmablasts and plasma cells from their B cell precursors. Plasmablasts are the rapidly produced and short-lived effector cells of the early antibody response, whereas plasma cells are the long-lived mediators of lasting humoral immunity. An extraordinary number of control mechanisms, at both the cellular and molecular levels, underlie the regulation of this essential arm of the immune response. Despite this complexity, the terminal differentiation of B cells can be described as a simple probabilistic process that is governed by a central gene-regulatory network and modified by environmental stimuli.
authors.affiliation: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia, and the Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Nutt
authors.affiliation: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia, and the Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Philip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Hodgkin
authors.affiliation: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia, and the Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Tarlinton
authors.affiliation: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia, and the Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Lynn M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Corcoran
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies