New research reveals clues to how antibodies become fine-tuned to fight infection

A new information about a cellular mechanism in the immune system that provides a critical step toward better understanding how antibodies evolve and improve in the human body was uncovered by researchers at the University of Alberta.

Our immune system needs fine-tuning to reach its full potential. Matthew Macauley is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry.

He said that the immune system improves the ability of the antibodies to recognize their target.

In a process called antibody affinity maturation, antibodies become better by evolving to bind more tightly to their target. The process occurs in a random fashion. Macauley explained that in a highly orchestrated series of events, the ability to recognize the target is selected.

Getting to the center of how the immune system works.

The germinal center reaction is where the process of selecting the best antibody happens. Jhon Enterina, the first author of the study, said that if the goal is to be able to make vaccines even more effective and durable, scientists need to better understand this important location and the process of how they evolve.

For the past 20 to 30 years,immunologists have looked at the surface of the white blood cells in the germinal center as a marker for certain diseases. Macauley is a network investigator with the pan-Canadian research network GlycoNet and he noticed this.

We began asking ourselves if these sugars have a function. They are likely serving an important role, not just for us to identify.

The type of white blood cell that makes antibodies is the B cells. When B cells recognize a component of a vaccine, they become germinal center B cells. These specialized cells have a unique set of sugars on their surface. Macauley was able to get to the bottom of the process.

He said that they came up with a simple way to test for the function of the carbohydrates when they are changing in the germinal center.

Macauley and his team created a model to prevent the changes from happening. Normally the germinal center B cells turn off an enzyme, so we didn't allow the cells to turn it off.

Key information about the mechanisms taking place in the germinal center was found when they did so.

The changes to the CD22 are connected to the key carbohydrates.

The germinal center is hard to study in a petri dish. Germinal center cells are taken outside of the body and die within a few hours. The cells within the germinal center divide at a faster rate than cancer cells.

The reason these cells divide so quickly is that it is critical for our bodies to evolve anti-bacteria as fast as possible before it is too late, said Macauley.

The germinal center gets out of control and leads to many diseases. Macauley noted that before scientists can find out how to control this key area in the body, they need to know what proper controls are in the first place.

It is a very complex process. Despite all of the insights that have been made in the last 10 years, there are still many questions about the germinal center, so this is providing another insight into one of the mechanisms that controls it.

More information: Jhon R. Enterina et al, Coordinated changes in glycosylation regulate the germinal center through CD22, Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110512 Journal information: Cell Reports Citation: New research reveals clues to how antibodies become fine-tuned to fight infection (2022, March 15) retrieved 17 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-reveals-clues-antibodies-fine-tuned-infection.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.