In chronic infection, inflammation and cancer, the tissue microenvironment controls how
local immune cells behave, with tissue-resident fibroblasts emerging as a key cell type in …

Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are ectopic lymphoid tissues that drive antigen-specific
immune responses at sites of chronic inflammation. Unlike secondary lymphoid organs such …

Diabetes is a systemic disease in which patients with diabetes may develop peripheral
neuropathy of the lower extremities and peripheral vascular disease due to long-term …

The synovium is the major target tissue of inflammatory arthritides such as rheumatoid
arthritis. The study of synovial tissue has advanced considerably throughout the past few …

Ectopic lymphoid neogenesis often occurs in the target tissues of patients with chronic
rheumatic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren syndrome and other …

Follicular helper T (TFH) cells are essential for B-cell maturation and immunoglobulin
production after immunization with thymus-dependent antigens. Nevertheless, the …

In germinal centres, somatic hypermutation and B cell selection increase antibody affinity
and specificity for the immunizing antigen, but the generation of autoreactive B cells is an …

Background Follicular structures resembling germinal centres (GCs) that are characterized
by follicular dendritic cell (FDC) networks have long been recognized in chronically inflamed …

The development of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies has enabled large-
scale characterization of functional antibody repertoires, a new method of understanding …

The therapeutic benefit of depleting B cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has refocused
attention on B cells with increasing awareness on their role in autoimmunity and their …