Abstract
Somatic hypermutation (SHM) is an important step in antigen-driven B cell development creating B lymphocytes expressing high-affinity antibody receptors. It is known that the peripheral B lymphocyte compartments of healthy children and adults differ considerably. However, the development of SHM with age has not been studied in detail previously. Therefore, we used the immunoglobulin (Ig)κ-restriction enzyme hot-spot mutation assay (Igκ-REHMA) to gain an estimation of SHM levels in different age groups in order to relate this to the size of the memory B lymphocyte subpopulations. We show that the level of SHM increases rapidly during the first 2 years of life. This reflects the changes of the memory B cell subpopulations, but also changes in the SHM within memory B cell subsets, probably reflecting an increase of secondary memory B cell responses.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 394-8 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Clinical and Experimental Immunology |
Volume | 178 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2014 |
Keywords
- Adolescent
- B-Lymphocyte Subsets
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Common Variable Immunodeficiency
- Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte
- Humans
- Infant
- Infant, Newborn
- Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell
- Somatic Hypermutation, Immunoglobulin
- Journal Article
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't