Memory B cells in the lung may be important for more effective influenza vaccinations

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Using a mouse model of influenza and experiments that included parabiosis, researchers definitively showed that lung-resident memory B cells establish themselves in the lung soon after influenza infection. Those lung memory B cells responded more quickly to produce antibodies against influenza after a second infection, as compared to the response by the circulating memory B cells in lymphoid tissue, and establishment of the lung-resident memory B cells required a local antigen encounter in the lung.
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news