Differentiation of B lymphocytes in response to vaccination

B lymphocytes upon contact by antigens undergo a complex programme of differentiation and migration through lymphoid microenvironments, before they differentiate into either plasma cells or convert into memory B cells. Plasma cells are the cells that produce large amounts of antibody. Memory B cells typically are affinity matured B cells that provide rapid high affinity plasma cell responses to pathogens that reenter the body. Understanding B lymphocyte differentiation is highly relevant for the understanding of vaccine responses, memory to vaccination and how to optimize design and responses to vaccines.

We study how B cells migrate through lymphoid microenvironments, interacting and exchanging signals with different accessory cells on the way. We are interested in how this migration is directed by chemokines, and what signals are exchanged to regulate differentiation of memory B cells and plasma cells. In particular the role of signals through the B cell’s antigen receptor (BCR), how the BCR competes for antigen-binding with other molecules, i.e. antigen-specific antibodies, and what signals are provided by T cells and stroma to regulate B cell differentiation.

A separate group of projects studies optimizing vaccines for responses in the aged immune system, and the development of specific vaccines, in particular vaccines inducing antibodies specific to neoantigens expressed in the tumour microenvironment.

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/iandi/toellner-kai.aspx