| First Author | Victora GD | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 143 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 592-605 |
| PubMed ID | 21074050 | Mgi Jnum | J:166836 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4849872 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cell.2010.10.032 |
| Citation | Victora GD, et al. (2010) Germinal center dynamics revealed by multiphoton microscopy with a photoactivatable fluorescent reporter. Cell 143(4):592-605 |
| abstractText | The germinal center (GC) reaction produces high-affinity antibodies by random mutation and selective clonal expansion of B cells with high-affinity receptors. The mechanism by which B cells are selected remains unclear, as does the role of the two anatomically defined areas of the GC, light zone (LZ) and dark zone (DZ). We combined a transgenic photoactivatable fluorescent protein tracer with multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy and flow cytometry to examine anatomically defined LZ and DZ B cells and GC selection. We find that B cell division is restricted to the DZ, with a net vector of B cell movement from the DZ to the LZ. The decision to return to the DZ and undergo clonal expansion is controlled by T helper cells in the GC LZ, which discern between LZ B cells based on the amount of antigen captured and presented. Thus, T cell help, and not direct competition for antigen, is the limiting factor in GC selection. |
