Yang Zhang

TL;DR: It is shown that the absence of IL-21 signaling profoundly affects the B cell response to protein antigen, reducing splenic and bone marrow plasma cell formation and GC persistence and function, influencing their proliferation, transition into memory B cells, and affinity maturation.

TL;DR: It is shown that CSR is triggered prior to differentiation into GC B cells or plasmablasts and is greatly diminished in GCs, and the existence of IgM-dominated GCs is demonstrated, which are unlikely to occur under the assumption of ongoing switching.

TL;DR: High-affinity antibodies reenter germinal centers (GCs) and limit antigen access, thus causing sustained directional evolution in GCs toward higher-Affinity antibody production.

TL;DR: A theory of germinal center B cell selection, division, and exit, based on the LEDA model, which suggests that B cells selected by T follicular helper cells on the basis of successful antigen processing always return to the dark zone for asymmetric division.

TL;DR: Using a virus-induced model of autoantibody formation in the salivary glands of adult mice, it is demonstrated that IL-22 provides a mechanistic link between mucosal infection, B-cell recruitment, and humoral autoimmunity and provides a rationale for the use of IL- 22–blocking agents in B- cell–mediated autoimmune conditions.