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Role of B cell antigen processing and presentation in the humoral immune response
Author(s) -
Myers Christopher D.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.5.11.1907935
Subject(s) - immune system , immunology , antigen , antigen presentation , antigen processing , b cell , presentation (obstetrics) , polyclonal b cell response , biology , medicine , antibody , t cell , radiology
In the 25 years since it was first indicated that lymphocyte subpopulations must interact during the generation of a humoral immune response, there has been an explosion of data on the molecular mechanism of this interaction. It has been demonstrated that T cells recognize a processed antigen fragment presented by a major histocompatibility complex molecule on the surface of an antigen‐presenting cell. The minimal peptides required for T cell recognition of several proteins have been determined, the molecular genetics of many of the cell surface molecules involved have been defined, and the three‐dimensional structure of the T cell receptor and the major histocompatibility antigens have been deduced. Several cell types have been found to act as antigen‐presenting cells, although the roles of these populations in vivo remain unclear. However, it is clear that there must be a physical interaction between a B cell and a T cell before the B cell can respond to a T‐dependent antigen. This interaction requires processing and presentation of the antigen by the B cell. Therefore this review focuses on antigen processing and presentation by resting B cells, one of the key steps in initiation of a humoral immune response.—Myers, C. D. Role of B cell antigen processing and presentation in the humoral immune response. FASEB J. 5: 2547‐2553; 1991.