| First Author | Rangel-Moreno J | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 180 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 454-63 |
| PubMed ID | 18097047 | Mgi Jnum | J:130893 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3772514 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.180.1.454 |
| Citation | Rangel-Moreno J, et al. (2008) B cells promote resistance to heterosubtypic strains of influenza via multiple mechanisms. J Immunol 180(1):454-63 |
| abstractText | Immunity to heterosubtypic strains of influenza is thought to be mediated primarily by memory T cells, which recognize epitopes in conserved proteins. However, the involvement of B cells in this process is controversial. We show in this study that influenza-specific memory T cells are insufficient to protect mice against a lethal challenge with a virulent strain of influenza in the absence of B cells. B cells contribute to protection in multiple ways. First, although non-neutralizing Abs by themselves do not provide any protection to challenge infection, they do reduce weight loss, lower viral titers, and promote recovery of mice challenged with a virulent heterosubtypic virus in the presence of memory T cells. Non-neutralizing Abs also facilitate the expansion of responding memory CD8 T cells. Furthermore, in cooperation with memory T cells, naive B cells also promote recovery from infection with a virulent heterosubtypic virus by generating new neutralizing Abs. These data demonstrate that B cells use multiple mechanisms to promote resistance to heterosubtypic strains of influenza and suggest that vaccines that elicit both memory T cells and Abs to conserved epitopes of influenza may be an effective defense against a wide range of influenza serotypes. |
