Memory B cell

Memory B cells are a B cell sub-type that are formed within germinal centers following primary infection and are important in generating an accelerated and more robust antibody-mediated immune response in the case of re-infection (also known as a secondary immune response).

Primary response

During an initial infection (or primary immune response) involving a T-dependent antigen, naive follicular B cells are activated in the presence of T_FH cells within the follicles of secondary lymphoid organs (i.e. spleen and lymph nodes) and undergo clonal expansion to produce a foci of B cells that are specific for the antigen. Most of these clones differentiate into the plasma cells, also called effector B cells which produce a first wave of protective antibodies and help clear the infection, and fraction persist as dormant memory cells that survive in the body on a long-term basis after having gone through a highly mutative and selective germinal center reaction. Activated B cells that fail to undergo germinal center differentiation do not persist as effective memory B cells and are rapidly negatively selected against.