Activation of B cells by CpG Motifs in Bacterial DNA
Year: 2002
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: Although the immune system possesses exquisitely antigen-specific receptors on T cells and B cells, the generation of such adaptive immune responses relies on the assistance of the innate immune defenses, such as dendritic cells, which must be activated in order to trigger optimal immune responses. These cells of the innate immune system lack such highly specific antigen receptors, instead relying on a set of “pattern recognition receptors” (PRRs) which have a general ability to detect certain molecular structures that are common to many pathogen occasions, but are not present in self tissues (1,2). One such PRR is represented by unmethylated CpG dinucleotides in particular base contexts, which are prevalent in bacterial and many viral DNAs, but are heavily suppressed and methylated in vertebrate genomes (1–5). Thus, the immune system appears to use the presence of this molecular structure as a “danger signal” that indicates the presence of infection and activates appropriate defense pathways. B cells are one of a very small subset of immune cells that express TLR-9, the putative CpG receptor, giving them a key role in the initiation of CpG-induced immune responses. The purpose of this review is to examine the B-cell effects of CpG DNA, and consider how these may affect the activation of innate and acquired immunity.
Source: Humana Press eBooks
Authors: Ae-Kyung Yi, Arthur M. Krieg
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W170593894