B-cell activation

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the process by which a naive B lymphocyte, upon encountering its specific antigen, receives co-stimulatory signals from helper T cells, and differentiates into either an antibody-secreting plasma cell or a long-lived memory B cell; B-cell activation can occur through T-dependent pathways requiring CD4+ helper T-cell involvement and generating robust immunological memory, or through T-independent pathways in response to certain bacterial antigens; activated B cells undergo somatic hypermutation and affinity maturation in germinal centres to produce antibodies with progressively higher affinity for their target antigen, forming the foundation of humoral immunity