Humoral immunity in the lung; spatiotemporal regulation of resident memory B cell responses to infection with influenza virus

Dr Tal Arnon; Kennedy Institute, University of Oxford

Dr Tal Arnon PhD is a Wellcome Trust Investigator and an associate Professor at the Kennedy Institute in the University of Oxford. She obtained her PhD from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was trained as a postdoctoral Fellow with Professor Jason Cyster in UCSF. In 2014, she joined the University of Oxford to establish her own group. Her research focuses on understanding basic mechanisms that regulate lymphocyte trafficking and B cell responses.

In recent years, a previously unappreciated subset of non-recirculating memory B cells have been shown to develop and persist in the lungs of influenza infected hosts. To study the microanatomical distribution of these cells in the lung and to explore mechanisms that activate them during rechallenge, we developed mouse models and imaging procedures to directly trace resident memory B cells in situ, in live lungs of influenza infected mice. Our study revealed that, upon re-challenge, an alveolar macrophage orchestrated cascade of events leads to an accumulation of resident memory B cells within sites of infection, a process that culminates in the differentiation of plasma cells in these regions. Given that one plasma cell can secret thousands of antibodies per minute, this process may represent a powerful mechanism to efficiently block viral dissemination.