Abstract
Vaccinations are powerful tools for combating infections. Because of the age-related impairment in immune functions, the currently available vaccines are protecting only a small proportion of the elderly population. We, here, provide an overview of age-related changes in innate and adaptive immunity with particular emphasis to changes in antibody production with aging. We also summarize our results showing that the E2A-encoded transcription factor E47, which regulates many B cell functions including class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM), is downregulated in splenic B cells from old mice. This leads to a reduction in the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which directly induces CSR and SHM, and, in turn, to reduced amounts of switched antibodies produced by splenic activated B cells. Our preliminary results in humans indicate similar reductions: we show herein that the expression of E2A and AID progressively decline with age. Our results provide a possible molecular basis for a decrease in the humoral immune response in aging mice and humans.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 378-384 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Seminars in Immunology |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2005 |
Keywords
- Aging
- B cells
- Isotype switch
- Transcription factors
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Infectious Diseases
- Immunology