B cells can undergo affinity maturation through the process of somatic hypermutation (SHM) followed by selection for high-affinity variants. Affinity maturation occurs in germinal centers (GC) and requires T-B cell cooperation. Extra GC B-cell responses are associated with the production of low-affinity antibodies. B cells producing high-affinity IgE during T-dependent responses are not directly selected in GC but are produced by the sequential switching of GC-selected high-affinity IgG-producing B cells. In contrast, natural low-affinity IgE can be generated without cognate T-B cell interactions in lymphopenic conditions. Low- and high-affinity IgE may differentially affect mast cell survival and degranulation and thus determine whether mast cells contribute to a beneficial or pathogenic environment. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010. All rights reserved.
CITATION STYLE
De Lafaille, M. A. C., & Lafaille, J. J. (2010). The biology of IgE: The generation of high-affinity IgE antibodies. In Cancer and IgE: Introducing the Concept of AllergoOncology (pp. 37–46). Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-451-7_3
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