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Comment
. 2022 Oct 2;7(1):343.
doi: 10.1038/s41392-022-01192-8.

Hide and seek with SARS-CoV-2: spike receptor-binding domain-specific memory B cells still recognize Omicron variant

Ivan Odak  1 , Reinhold Förster  1   2   3 , Berislav Bošnjak  4
Affiliations
Comment

Hide and seek with SARS-CoV-2: spike receptor-binding domain-specific memory B cells still recognize Omicron variant

Ivan Odak et al. Signal Transduct Target Ther. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Scheme of humoral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection of vaccination. Initially, upon antigen encounter some naïve B cells mature into short-lived plasmablasts that migrate to lymph node medullary chords and produce a first wave of low-affinity antibodies. The full power of humoral immunity, however, relies on a germinal center reaction. A subset of B cells with the initially highest affinity for the invading pathogen moves to the center of a B cell follicle, where they begin to proliferate thereby forming a germinal center (GC). In the dark zone of the GC, where B cells rapidly proliferate, base-pair changes get introduced into the rearranged immunoglobulin variable regions of heavy- and light-chains genes in a process called somatic hypermutation. B cells encoding for antibodies with improved antigen binding affinity are then selected in the light zone of the GC with the help of T follicular helper cells that provide survival factors for the GC B cells and follicular dendritic cells that present non-degraded antigens. Several iterative rounds of B cell re-circulations between the light and dark GC zones ensure the generation of B cells with high-affinity antibodies. These cells will further differentiate into either long-lived plasma cells or memory B cells. Long-lived plasma cells migrate to bone marrow to secrete high-affinity antibodies in serum. In contrast, memory B cells remain circulating between blood, secondary lymphoid organs, and lymph and can reactivate after antigen re-counter and re-enter germinal center reaction. b Mutations accumulated in spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) of Omicron variant (O) evade a large fraction of high-affinity memory B cell derived antibodies induced by ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain (Hu-1). Figure created with BioRender.com
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References

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