Abstract
Germinal centres are histologically defined aggregates of blast cells that occur in B-cell areas of lymphoid tissues after antigenic stimulation. They are believed to be associated with the development of B-cell memory and plasma cell (especially secondary, IgG and IgA) responses1–3. Recent studies of murine lymphoid tissues have defined cell-surface markers that distinguish germinal centre B cells from other mature B cells4–7, permitting their identification and characterization in cell suspensions. Here we have used these markers to define and study germinal centre cells in lymph nodes, and have found that they constitute a unique population of B cells which (1) arises in response to antigenic stimulation, (2) contains nearly all of the demonstrably antigen-specific B cells in the stimulated organ, (3) bears surface IgM after primary stimulation and (4) as a population, demonstrates isotype switching to a predominant surface IgG phenotype after secondary stimulation with specific antigen. These findings demonstrate that germinal centres are a major site of proliferation and differentiation of antigen-specific B cells in vivo, and suggest that the germinal centre microenvironment may have an important role in heavy chain class switching during B-cell responses.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Thorbecke, G. J., Romano, T. J. & Lerman, S. P. in Prog. Immun. II 3, 25–34 (1974).
Nieuwenhuis, P., Gastkemper, N. A. & Opstelten, D. Ciba Fdn Symp. 84, 246–264 (1981).
Klaus, G. G. B. & Kunkl, A. Ciba Fdn Symp. 84, 264–280 (1981).
Rose, M. L., Birbeck, M. S. C., Wallis, V. J., Forrester, J. A. & Davies, A. J. S. Nature 284, 364–366 (1980).
Raedler, A., Raedler, E., Arndt, R. & Thiele, H. G. Immun. Lett. 2, 335–338 (1981).
Butcher, E. C., Reichert, R. A., Coffman, R. L., Nottenburg, C. & Weissman, I. L. Adv. exp. Med. Biol. (in the press).
Butcher, E. C. et al. J. Immun. (submitted).
London, J., Berrih, S. & Bach, J. F. J. Immun. 121, 438–443 (1978).
Martin, L. N. & Leslie, G. A. Immunology 33, 865–872 (1977).
Stein, H. et al. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 28, 746–760 (1980).
Jacobson, E. B. et al. J. exp. Med. 154, 318–322 (1981).
Kanowith-Klein, S., Vitetta, E. S., Korn, E. L. & Ashman, R. F. J. Immun. 122, 2349–2355 (1979).
Coffman, R. L. & Weissman, I. L. Nature 289, 681–683 (1981).
Opstelten, D., Stikker, R., Van der Heyden, D. & Nieuwenhuis, P. Virchows Arch. path. Anat. Physiol. 34, 53–62 (1980).
Elson, C. O., Heck, J. A. & Strober, W. J. exp. Med. 149, 632–643 (1979).
Coffman, R. L. & Cohn, M. J. Immun. 118, 1806–1815 (1977).
Zan-bar, I., Strober, S. & Vietta, E. S. J. Immun. 123, 925–930 (179).
Oi, V. T. P., Jones, P., Goding, S. W., Herzenberg, L. A. & Herzenberg, L. A. Curr. Topics Microbiol. Immun. 81, 115–129 (1978).
Ledbetter, J. A. & Herzenberg, L. A. Immun. Rev. 47, 63–90 (1979).
Butcher, E. C. & Weissman, I. L. J. immun. Meth. 37, 97–108 (1980).
Sordat, B., Sordat, M., Hess, M. W., Stoner, R. D. & Cottier, H. J. exp. Med. 131, 77–92 (1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kraal, G., Weissman, I. & Butcher, E. Germinal centre B cells: antigen specificity and changes in heavy chain class expression. Nature 298, 377–379 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298377a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298377a0
This article is cited by
-
Magnetic-based purification of untouched mouse germinal center B cells for ex vivo manipulation and biochemical analysis
Nature Protocols (2011)
-
Ultrastructural study of highly enriched follicular dendritic cells reveals their morphology and the periodicity of immune complex binding
Cell and Tissue Research (2008)
-
Transcription factor IRF4 controls plasma cell differentiation and class-switch recombination
Nature Immunology (2006)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.