Department of Immunobiology, King's College London Medical School, London, UK.
Biogerontology. 2010 Apr;11(2):125-37. doi: 10.1007/s10522-009-9256-9. Epub 2009 Nov 25.
Age-related changes in the structure and function of the immune system, collectively termed immunosenescence, result in poor responses to infections, increased susceptibility to cancers and increased incidence of autoimmune diseases. The humoral immune response, maintained by the B cell compartment, has a key role in an effective immune system-not only in producing high affinity antibodies that are crucial for vaccination strategies, but in assisting other components of the immune system in their function. Hence an understanding of B cell immunosenescence in particular is vital in designing strategies to combat the effects of age on immune function. Numerous studies have been undertaken using small animal models in order to understand immunosenescence, and these have contributed greatly to our understanding of the events that underpin impaired immune responses. However, there are key differences between the human and the mouse and a clear understanding of these differences is required when extrapolating from one species to the other. In this article we present an overview of B cell development and summarise current data on age-related B cell changes, at both the population level and at the individual mechanistic level. Areas of similarity and difference between human and mouse models are highlighted.
免疫系统的结构和功能随年龄增长而发生的变化，统称为免疫衰老，导致对感染的反应不佳、癌症易感性增加和自身免疫性疾病发病率增加。体液免疫反应由 B 细胞群维持，在有效的免疫系统中起着关键作用——不仅产生对抗疫苗策略至关重要的高亲和力抗体，而且还协助免疫系统的其他成分发挥功能。因此，了解 B 细胞免疫衰老对于设计对抗年龄对免疫功能影响的策略至关重要。已经使用小动物模型进行了许多研究来了解免疫衰老，这些研究极大地促进了我们对导致免疫反应受损的事件的理解。然而，人类和小鼠之间存在关键差异，在从一个物种推断到另一个物种时，需要清楚地了解这些差异。本文概述了 B 细胞的发育，并总结了当前关于人群水平和个体机制水平上与年龄相关的 B 细胞变化的相关数据。突出了人类和小鼠模型之间的相似和不同之处。
