Implications of intravital imaging of murine germinal centres on the control of B cell selection and division

Abstract

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Intravital imaging of antibody optimization in germinal centre (GC) reactions hasset a new dimension in the understanding of the humoral immune response duringthe last decade. The inclusion of spatio-temporal cellular dynamics inthe research on GCs required analysis with agent-based mathematical models.Here, we integrate the available intravital imaging data from various researchgroups and incorporate these into a quantitative mathematical model ofGC reactions and antibody affinity maturation. Interestingly, the integrationof data concerning the spatial organisation of GCs and B cell motility allows to drawconclusions on the strength of the selection pressure and the controlof B cell division by T follicular helper cells.

Keywords

• Chemotaxis
• Germinal Center
• Affinity maturation
• T follicular helper cells
• antibody optimization
• B cell motility