Abstract

Anergy, a condition in which cells persist in the periphery but are unresponsive to antigen, is responsible for silencing many self-reactive B cells. Loss of anergy is known to contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus and type 1 diabetes. Multiple transgenic mouse models have enabled the dissection of mechanisms that underlie anergy, and recently, anergic B cells have been identified in the periphery of wild-type mice. Heterogeneity of mechanistic concepts developed using model systems has complicated our understanding of anergy and its biological features. In this Review, we compare and contrast the salient features of anergic B cells with a view to developing unifying mechanistic hypotheses that explain their lifestyles.

Author affiliations

1. Department of Immunology, University of Colorado Health Science Center and National Jewish Medical Research Center, 1400 Jackson Street, Denver, Colorado 80206, USA.
2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.

Correspondence to: John C. Cambier¹ Email: cambierj@njc.org

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.