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B Cell Biology for the Twenty-First Century

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 3244

Special Issue Editors

Departments of Surgery and Microbiology & Immunology, and the Transplantation Biology Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Interests: B cell memory and somatic hypermutation; B cell response to transplantation; inherited primary immunodeficiency; novel cancer therapeutics
1. Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
2. Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
3. The Transplantation Biology Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: the immunology and cell biology of transplantation; cancer and related fields
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the term "immunology" first came into use during the first years of twentieth century, adherents of that field, “immunologists”, were engaged in heated debate about “the mechanism by which the animal body is enabled to resist disease” and in urgent efforts to apply new insights to advance “the diagnosis, prevention and cure of human and animal disease” (Gay FP: JAMA 1911;LVI(8):578-583. doi:10.1001/jama.1911.02560080026006). If cells of various types, especially phagocytes, provided a visible correlate of resistance to and clearance of microorganisms, it was the humoral substances of blood, particularly antibodies, that explained the specificity of immunity and provided the quantifiable markers of immunity and the powerful therapeutics that thrust the naiscent field onto the front pages of lay press and into the forefront of biomedical science (Ehrlich--Collected Studies on Immunity, 1906, John Wiley and Sons, London). The ensuing decades of the twentieth century brought a vast body of knowledge about cellular and molecular immunology, mechanisms of disease reistance and susceptibility, and efforts to apply that knowledge in ways the founders of immunology could scarcely imagine. Yet, with the vastly expanded understanding of the cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms of innate and elicited immunity, disease resistance, surveillance, prevention and treatment, the emergence of new infectious organisms such as SARS-CoV2 and incomplete control of others such as HIV brings renewed and urgent focus on antibodies and B cells, on antibody titers and specificity, V(D)J defined variable gene repertoires, V region mutations and on therapeutic strategies in which antibodies serve as "first responders”. Will B cells remain at the center of basic and applied immunology as the twenty-second century unfolds? That question will be addressed from a number of perspectives. Experts on the evolution of B cells and B cell products, on basic B cell biology, and investigators exploring invovlement of B cells and antibodies in disease and disease resistance, and in diagnosis and treatment of disease, will identify current frontiers in B cell biology and consider how the field will evolve as this century proceeds.

Dr. Marilia Cascalho
Prof. Dr. Jeffrey L. Platt
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

20 pages, 1285 KiB  
Review
Hygiene Hypothesis as the Etiology of Kawasaki Disease: Dysregulation of Early B Cell Development
by Jong-Keuk Lee
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(22), 12334; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms222212334 - 15 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2647
Abstract
Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis that occurs predominantly in children under 5 years of age. Despite much study, the etiology of KD remains unknown. However, epidemiological and immunological data support the hygiene hypothesis as a possible etiology. It is thought [...] Read more.
Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis that occurs predominantly in children under 5 years of age. Despite much study, the etiology of KD remains unknown. However, epidemiological and immunological data support the hygiene hypothesis as a possible etiology. It is thought that more sterile or clean modern living environments due to increased use of sanitizing agents, antibiotics, and formula feeding result in a lack of immunological challenges, leading to defective or dysregulated B cell development, accompanied by low IgG and high IgE levels. A lack of B cell immunity may increase sensitivity to unknown environmental triggers that are nonpathogenic in healthy individuals. Genetic studies of KD show that all of the KD susceptibility genes identified by genome-wide association studies are involved in B cell development and function, particularly in early B cell development (from the pro-B to pre-B cell stage). The fact that intravenous immunoglobulin is an effective therapy for KD supports this hypothesis. In this review, I discuss clinical, epidemiological, immunological, and genetic studies showing that the etiopathogenesis of KD in infants and toddlers can be explained by the hygiene hypothesis, and particularly by defects or dysregulation during early B cell development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue B Cell Biology for the Twenty-First Century)
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