| First Author | Laidlaw BJ | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | J Exp Med | Volume | 214 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 639-649 |
| PubMed ID | 28143955 | Mgi Jnum | J:241071 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5897698 | Doi | 10.1084/jem.20161461 |
| Citation | Laidlaw BJ, et al. (2017) The Eph-related tyrosine kinase ligand Ephrin-B1 marks germinal center and memory precursor B cells. J Exp Med 214(3):639-649 |
| abstractText | Identification of germinal center (GC) B cells is typically reliant on the use of surface activation markers that exhibit a wide range of expression. Here, we identify Ephrin-B1, a ligand for Eph-related receptor tyrosine kinases, as a specific marker of mature GC B cells. The number of Ephrin-B1+ GC B cells increases during the course of an immune response with Ephrin-B1+ GC B cells displaying elevated levels of Bcl6, S1pr2, and Aicda relative to their Ephrin-B1- counterparts. We further identified a small proportion of recently dividing, somatically mutated Ephrin-B1+ GC B cells that have begun to down-regulate Bcl6 and S1pr2 and express markers associated with memory B cells, such as CD38 and EBI2. Transcriptional analysis indicates that these cells are developmentally related to memory B cells, and likely represent a population of GC memory precursor (PreMem) B cells. GC PreMem cells display enhanced survival relative to bulk GC B cells, localize near the edge of the GC, and are predominantly found within the light zone. These findings offer insight into the significant heterogeneity that exists within the GC B cell population and provide tools to further dissect signals regulating the differentiation of GC B cells. |
