Spontaneous germinal centers and autoimmunity.
Germinal centers (GCs) are dynamic microenvironments that form in the secondary lymphoid organs and generate somatically mutated high-affinity antibodies necessary to establish an effective humoral immune response. Tight regulation of GC responses is critical for maintaining self-tolerance. GCs can arise in the absence of purposeful immunization or overt infection (called spontaneous GCs, Spt-GCs). In autoimmune-prone mice and patients with autoimmune disease, aberrant regulation of Spt-GCs is thought to promote the development of somatically mutated pathogenic autoantibodies and the subsequent development of autoimmunity. The mechanisms that control the formation of Spt-GCs and promote systemic autoimmune diseases remain an open question and the focus of ongoing studies. Here, we discuss the most current studies on the role of Spt-GCs in autoimmunity.
a Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State College of Medicine , USA.
Phillip P
PP
Domeier
a Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State College of Medicine , USA.
Stephanie L
SL
Schell
a Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State College of Medicine , USA.
Ziaur S M
ZS
Rahman
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015551:Autoimmunity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D011485:Protein Binding; D015398:Signal Transduction; D027041:Somatic Hypermutation, Immunoglobulin
D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers
Autoimmunity; ectopic germinal centers; self-tolerance; spontaneous germinal centers