ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
The affinity of antibodies (Abs) produced in vivo for their target antigens (Ags) is typically well below the maximum affinity possible. Nearly 25 years ago, Foote and Eisen explained how an affinity ceiling could arise from constraints associated with the acquisition of soluble antigen by B cells. However, recent studies have shown that B cells in germinal centers (where Ab affinity maturation occurs) acquire Ag not in soluble form but presented as receptor-bound immune complexes on follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). How the affinity ceiling arises in such a scenario is unclear. Here, we argue that the ceiling arises from the weakest link of the chain of protein complexes that bridges B cells and FDCs and is broken during Ag acquisition. This hypothesis explains the affinity ceiling realized in vivo and suggests that strengthening the weakest link could raise the ceiling and improve Ab responses.
The antibody repertoire of each individual is continuously updated by the evolutionary process of B cell receptor mutation and selection. It has recently become possible to gain detailed information concerning this process through high-throughput seq
The body is home to a diverse microbiota, mainly in the gut. Resistant bacteria are selected for by antibiotic treatments, and once resistance becomes widespread in a population of hosts, antibiotics become useless. Here, we develop a multiscale mode
The deluge of single-cell data obtained by sequencing, imaging and epigenetic markers has led to an increasingly detailed description of cell state. However, it remains challenging to identify how cells transition between different states, in part be
A continuum model of epithelial tissue mechanics was formulated using cellular-level mechanical ingredients and cell morphogenetic processes, including cellular shape changes and cellular rearrangements. This model can include finite deformation, and
Numerous biological approaches are available to characterise the mechanisms which govern the formation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) colonies. To understand how the kinematics of single and pairs of hESCs impact colony formation, we study their