B-cell repertoire responses to varicella-zoster vaccination in human identical twins
Abstract
Human B cells secrete highly diverse antibody molecules to recognize and defend against infectious agents. Developing B cells independently rearrange their genomes to produce antibody-encoding sequences. It is uncertain to what degree genetic factors control antibody repertoires and the antibodies elicited by defined antigenic stimuli. Analysis of 134,000 antibody heavy chain sequences from genetically identical twins vaccinated with varicella-zoster vaccine indicates that twins show increased correlation in antibody gene segment usage, junctional features, and mutation rates in their antibody pools but show little similarity in clonal responses to an acute stimulus. Therefore, a shared germ-line genome sequence is correlated with overall convergence of antibody repertoires, but the particular antibody response to a given vaccination is less predictable.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- January 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1415875112
- Bibcode:
- 2015PNAS..112..500W