Protective immunity against Nippostrongylus brasiliensis requires antigen presentation by IL-4Rα responsive B cells

Includes bibliographical references. === Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is a parasitic nematode infection that affects rodents. B-cells have been shown to play an important role in immunity to many different infections by antibody production and T-cell activation. But B-cell function in the protective...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Darby, Matthew G
Other Authors: Brombacher, Frank
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14954
Description
Summary:Includes bibliographical references. === Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is a parasitic nematode infection that affects rodents. B-cells have been shown to play an important role in immunity to many different infections by antibody production and T-cell activation. But B-cell function in the protective TH2 response against N. brasiliensis infection is an area of immunity that is currently not well defined. Recently, it has been shown that B-cells are essential to the resolution of a Heligomosomoides polygyrus infection, another parasitic helminth. Our aim in this study was to investigate any role that B-cells may play in response to a secondary N. brasiliensis infection by analysing the differences in immunity of wild-type and B-cell-specific IL-4Rα knockout mice after a N. brasiliensis re-infection.