BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Antibodies not needed

March 15, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

Italian and American researchers have mouse data showing that the most important function of B cells in fighting some viral infections is not making antibodies but rather stimulating an innate immune response led by macrophages.1 The findings could point to new vaccine adjuvant strategies for viruses such as rabies and West Nile, assuming the mouse data translate into humans.

A team co-led by Matteo Iannacone and Ulrich von Andrian made the discovery while studying the early steps in the immune response to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a veterinary pathogen that serves as a model for neurotropic viruses...