Title:Activation of B Cells by a Dendritic Cell-Targeted Oral Vaccine
Volume: 14
Issue: 10
Author(s): Bikash Sahay, Jennifer L. Owen, Tao Yang, Mojgan Zadeh, Yaima L. Lightfoot, Jun-Wei Ge and Mansour Mohamadzadeh
Affiliation:
Keywords:
B-1 cells, Bacillus anthracis, Germinal centers, Humoral immune response, Lactobacillus, Mucosal vaccine, Oral
vaccine.
Abstract: Production of long-lived, high affinity humoral immunity is an essential characteristic of successful vaccination
and requires cognate interactions between T and B cells in germinal centers. Within germinal centers, specialized T follicular
helper cells assist B cells and regulate the antibody response by mediating the differentiation of B cells into memory
or plasma cells after exposure to T cell-dependent antigens. It is now appreciated that local immune responses are also
essential for protection against infectious diseases that gain entry to the host by the mucosal route; therefore, targeting the
mucosal compartments is the optimum strategy to induce protective immunity. However, because the gastrointestinal mucosae
are exposed to large amounts of environmental and dietary antigens on a daily basis, immune regulatory mechanisms
exist to favor tolerance and discourage autoimmunity at these sites. Thus, mucosal vaccination strategies must ensure
that the immunogen is efficiently taken up by the antigen presenting cells, and that the vaccine is capable of activating
humoral and cellular immunity, while avoiding the induction of tolerance. Despite significant progress in mucosal
vaccination, this potent platform for immunotherapy and disease prevention must be further explored and refined. Here we
discuss recent progress in the understanding of the role of different phenotypes of B cells in the development of an efficacious
mucosal vaccine against infectious disease.
