Do developing B cells need antigen?

Abstract

Just as potentially useful T cells are positively selected by MHC-peptide complexes in the thymus, it has been proposed that self or commensal bacterial epitopes might select B cell populations with the capacity to recognize polysaccharide or protein structures on pathogens. Recent studies indicate that the repertoire of 8 cells entering the periphery is not shaped by specific stimuli, but that mature B cell subsets may be under different selective pressures.