| First Author | Mayer CT | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | Science | Volume | 358 |
| Issue | 6360 | PubMed ID | 28935768 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:261534 | Mgi Id | MGI:5921683 |
| Doi | 10.1126/science.aao2602 | Citation | Mayer CT, et al. (2017) The microanatomic segregation of selection by apoptosis in the germinal center. Science 358(6360) |
| abstractText | B cells undergo rapid cell division and affinity maturation in anatomically distinct sites in lymphoid organs called germinal centers (GCs). Homeostasis is maintained in part by B cell apoptosis. However, the precise contribution of apoptosis to GC biology and selection is not well defined. We developed apoptosis-indicator mice and used them to visualize, purify, and characterize dying GC B cells. Apoptosis is prevalent in the GC, with up to half of all GC B cells dying every 6 hours. Moreover, programmed cell death is differentially regulated in the light zone and the dark zone: Light-zone B cells die by default if they are not positively selected, whereas dark-zone cells die when their antigen receptors are damaged by activation-induced cytidine deaminase. |
