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Review
. 2022 Aug 30:13:988536.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.988536. eCollection 2022.

The role of B cells in COVID-19 infection and vaccination

Shiru Chen  1   2 , Fei Guan  1 , Fabio Candotti  3 , Kamel Benlagha  4 , Niels Olsen Saraiva Camara  5 , Andres A Herrada  6 , Louisa K James  7 , Jiahui Lei  1 , Heather Miller  8 , Masato Kubo  9 , Qin Ning  10 , Chaohong Liu  1
Affiliations
Review

The role of B cells in COVID-19 infection and vaccination

Shiru Chen et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

B cells secrete antibodies and mediate the humoral immune response, making them extremely important in protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, which caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this review, we summarize the positive function and pathological response of B cells in SARS-CoV-2 infection and re-infection. Then, we structure the immunity responses that B cells mediated in peripheral tissues. Furthermore, we discuss the role of B cells during vaccination including the effectiveness of antibodies and memory B cells, viral evolution mechanisms, and future vaccine development. This review might help medical workers and researchers to have a better understanding of the interaction between B cells and SARS-CoV-2 and broaden their vision for future investigations.

Keywords: B cells; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; memory B cells; vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The role of B cells in COVID-19 infection and re-infection. Naïve B cells are activated via the help of folliculat T (Tfh) cells after the invasion of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Following T-B interaction, B cells go through rapid proliferation and differentiation, producing pre-germinal center memory B cells (pre-GC MBCs) and short-lived plasma cells (SLPCs) producing early antibodies with low affinity. Other B cells enter the germinal center (GC) to increase antibody affinity by clonal expansion and somatic hypermutation (SHM), and change the structure through class-switching recombination (CSR), resulting in long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) and memory B cells (MBCs). If challenged with a second invasion or vaccination, both pre-GC MBCs and MBCs generated after GC reactions differentiate into plasma cells or generate a second GC in a short period of time to produce high-affinity antibodies. Those B cells and antibodies secreted enter the blood circulation and peripheral tissues like mucosa to defend against viral infection and re-infection. Figure adapted from (18).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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