Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea.
BioMedical Research Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea.
Front Immunol. 2022 Jul 18;13:953088. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.953088. eCollection 2022.
Epithelial barriers, which include the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and genitourinary mucosa, compose the body's front line of defense. Since barrier tissues are persistently exposed to microbial challenges, a rapid response that can deal with diverse invading pathogens is crucial. Because B cells have been perceived as indirectly contributing to immune responses through antibody production, B cells functioning in the peripheral organs have been outside the scope of researchers. However, recent evidence supports the existence of tissue-resident memory B cells (BRMs) in the lungs. This population's defensive response was stronger and faster than that of their circulating counterparts and could resist heterogeneous strains. With such traits, BRMs could be a promising target for vaccine design, but much about them remains to be revealed, including their locations, origin, specific markers, and the mechanisms of their establishment and maintenance. There is evidence for resident B cells in organs other than the lungs, suggesting that B cells are directly involved in the immune reactions of multiple non-lymphoid organs. This review summarizes the history of the discovery of BRMs and discusses important unresolved questions. Unique characteristics of humoral immunity that play an important role in the peripheral organs will be described briefly. Future research on B cells residing in non-lymphoid organs will provide new insights to help solve major problems regarding human health.
上皮屏障包括胃肠道、呼吸道和泌尿生殖道黏膜,构成了人体的第一道防线。由于屏障组织持续暴露于微生物的挑战中,因此快速应对各种入侵病原体至关重要。由于 B 细胞被认为是通过产生抗体间接促进免疫反应,因此外周器官中的 B 细胞功能一直不在研究人员的研究范围内。然而,最近的证据支持肺部存在组织驻留记忆 B 细胞 (BRM)。该群体的防御反应比循环细胞更快更强,可以抵抗异质菌株。具有这些特性,BRM 可能成为疫苗设计的有前途的目标,但仍有许多问题有待揭示,包括它们的位置、起源、特定标记以及它们的建立和维持机制。其他器官(除肺部外)也存在驻留 B 细胞的证据,这表明 B 细胞直接参与多个非淋巴器官的免疫反应。本文综述了 BRM 的发现历史,并讨论了重要的未解决问题。简要描述了在周围器官中发挥重要作用的体液免疫的独特特征。对非淋巴器官中驻留 B 细胞的未来研究将提供新的见解,有助于解决人类健康的重大问题。