Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Seasonal allergen exposure boosts the production of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies, leading to allergic diseases affecting more than 30% of the population. However, the cellular mechanisms and pathological consequences of secondary IgE production in humans remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that IgE⁺ plasmablasts serve as the dominant cellular source responsible for the seasonal amplification of IgE. During birch pollen season, allergen exposure selectively boosts IgE production targeting pre-established conformational epitopes of the major allergen Bet v 1, with no synchronous increase in Bet v 1-specific IgG. Crucially, this plasmablast-derived IgE re-establishes allergen-specific effector cell activation that declines in absence of allergen exposure. Our findings uncover a key role of IgE⁺ plasmablasts in the rapid recall of allergic responses and highlight their potential as a therapeutic target for allergy.
Source: Immunity & Inflammation
Authors: Maria Byazrova, Alla Litovkina, Julia Eckl-Dorna, Huey-Jy Huang, Daria Trifonova, Mohammed Zghaebi, Evgenii Smolnikov, Sabine Flicker, Alfira Romanova, Victoria Stanek, Aldine Tu, Tianchi Jiang, Raffaela Campana, Inna Tulaeva, Susanne Vrtala, Victoria Garib, Olga Elisyutina, Alexander Filatov, Musa Khaitov, Veronika Skvortsova, Rudolf Valenta
Institutions: Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Federal Medical-Biological Agency, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Sechenov University, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology and Allergy
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7123340506