RT Journal Article T1 Affinity selection in germinal centers: cautionary tales and new opportunities A1 Faro Rivas, Jose Manuel A1 Castro, Mario K1 2412 Inmunología K1 2412.03 Reacción Antígeno- Anticuerpo K1 2404.99 Otras K1 2406.99 Otras AB Our current quantitative knowledge of the kinetics of antibody-mediated immunity is partly based on idealized experiments throughout the last decades. However, new experimental techniques often render contradictory quantitative outcomes that shake previously uncontroversial assumptions. This has been the case in the field of T-cell receptors, where recent techniques for measuring the 2-dimensional rate constants of T-cell receptor–ligand interactions exposed results contradictory to those obtained with techniques measuring 3-dimensional interactions. Recently, we have developed a mathematical framework to rationalize those discrepancies, focusing on the proper fine-grained description of the underlying kinetic steps involved in the immune synapse. In this perspective article, we apply this approach to unveil potential blind spots in the case of B-cell receptors (BCR) and to rethink the interactions between B cells and follicular dendritic cells (FDC) during the germinal center (GC) reaction. Also, we elaborate on the concept of “catch bonds” and on the recent observations that B-cell synapses retract and pull antigen generating a “retracting force”, and propose some testable predictions that can lead to future research. PB Cells SN 20734409 YR 2021 FD 2021-04-28 LK http://hdl.handle.net/11093/2081 UL http://hdl.handle.net/11093/2081 LA eng NO Cells, 10(5): 1040 (2021) NO Xunta de Galicia | Ref. GRC-ED431C 2020/02 DS Investigo RD 12-nov-2024