Publications by authors named "Maximilian Loewe"
Protective immune responses to many pathogens depend on the development of high-affinity antibody-producing plasma cells (PC) in germinal centers (GCs). Transgenic models suggest that there is a stringent affinity-based barrier to PC development. Whether a similar high-affinity barrier regulates PC development under physiologic circumstances and the nature of the PC fate decision has not been defined precisely.
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- Research on HIV-1 vaccines highlights the need to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that target the CD4 binding site (CD4bs) to provide protection against the virus.
- The study explores the hypothesis that targeting germline precursor antibodies like IOMA could simplify the process of generating effective bNAbs, as they have lower mutation requirements than other CD4bs antibodies.
- Experiments showed that immunizing transgenic mice with specially designed Env immunogens successfully prompted the development of effective CD4bs-specific antibodies, suggesting that this strategy could be viable for future HIV-1 vaccine efforts.
Antibody responses are characterized by increasing affinity and diversity over time. Affinity maturation occurs in germinal centers by a mechanism that involves repeated cycles of somatic mutation and selection. How antibody responses diversify while also undergoing affinity maturation is not as well understood.
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- Feedback inhibition of humoral immunity by antibodies has been observed since 1909, with studies showing that antibodies can either enhance or inhibit immune responses depending on the context.
- A study focused on individuals who received two high-affinity anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and later two mRNA vaccine doses revealed that while their antibody production was slightly lower, their memory B cells predominantly expressed low-affinity IgM antibodies with few mutations and altered binding specificity.
- The research indicates that existing high-affinity antibodies can affect the immune response by lowering the activation threshold for B cells and masking their target sites, which may help explain changes in memory antibody profiles after booster vaccinations.