Journal
JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 131, Issue 4, Pages 933-957Publisher
MOSBY-ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.02.023
Keywords
B cells; plasma cells; plasmablasts; respiratory diseases
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [K23DC012067, R01 HL078860, R01 AI072570, R37 HL068546]
- Ernest S. Bazley Trust
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Adaptive humoral immune responses in the airways are mediated by B cells and plasma cells that express highly evolved and specific receptors and produce immunoglobulins of most isotypes. In some cases, such as autoimmune diseases or inflammatory diseases caused by excessive exposure to foreign antigens, these same immune cells can cause disease by virtue of overly vigorous responses. This review discusses the generation, differentiation, signaling, activation, and recruitment pathways of B cells and plasma cells, with special emphasis on unique characteristics of subsets of these cells functioning within the respiratory system. The primary sensitization events that generate B cells responsible for effector responses throughout the airways usually occur in the upper airways, tonsils, and adenoid structures that make up the Waldeyer ring. On secondary exposure to antigen in the airways, antigen-processing dendritic cells migrate into secondary lymphoid organs, such as lymph nodes, that drain the upper and lower airways, and further B-cell expansion takes place at those sites. Antigen exposure in the upper or lower airways can also drive expansion of B-lineage cells in the airway mucosal tissue and lead to the formation of inducible lymphoid follicles or aggregates that can mediate local immunity or disease. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2013; 131: 933-57.)
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available