Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Immunology

Memory needs no reminders

Nature volume 407, pages 576–577 (2000)Cite this article

Your body can 'remember' specific diseases and, decades later, protect you from reinfection. This principle has been known for centuries, but immunologists are still struggling with the cellular mechanisms that underlie its maintenance. Is this long-term immune 'memory' due to the formation of a special class of long-lived memory cells, or to occasional 'reminders' to the immune system from residual antigens — the invading agents that induced the response in the first place. On page 636of this issue1 Maruyama and colleagues describe their use of an elegant genetic system to address the question. They suggest that B cells, the class of immune cell that makes antibodies, can persist as memory cells for long periods of time after immunization, even in the total absence of specific stimulation by antigen.

To explain immune memory, Burnet and Talmage2 proposed that rare antigen-specific B-lymphocytes, which are precursors of antibody secreting cells, expand clonally when they encounter antigen. This clonal expansion results in an enlarged pool of antigen-specific B cells that produces a faster, larger response the next time the antigen is encountered — that is, they carry a memory of the original immunization. However, there was then a divergence of ideas about how the expanded pool of cells could persist, and this divide of opinion remains.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Does immune memory need reminders from antigen?
Figure 2: The predicted experimental outcomes of Maruyama and colleagues' experiments1.

References

  1. Maruyama, M., Lam, K.-P. & Rajewsky, K. Nature 407, 636– 642 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Burnet, F. M. The Clonal Selection Theory of Acquired Immunity (Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1959).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Nossal, G. J. V. & Ada, G. L. Antigens, Lymphoid Cells and the Immune Response (Academic, New York, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Tew, J. G. & Mandel, T. E. Immunology 37, 69–76 (1979).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Tew, J. G., Kosco, M. H., Burton, G. F. & Szakal, A. K. Immunol. Rev. 117, 185–211 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gray, D. & Skarvall, H. Nature 336, 70–73 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Karrer, U. et al. J. Immunol. 164, 768– 778 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Vieira, P. & Rajewsky, K. Int. Immunol. 2, 487–494 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Murali-Krishna, K. et al. Science 286, 1377– 1381 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Swain, S. L., Hu, H. & Huston, G. Science 286, 1381–1383 ( 1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sprent, J. & Basten, A. Cell. Immunol. 7, 40–59 (1973).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ron, Y. & Sprent, J. J. Exp. Med. 161, 1581–1586 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Förster, I. & Rajewsky, K. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 87, 4781–4784 ( 1990).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Genome Centre, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Mills Road, PO Box 334, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia

    Stephen Martin & Chris Goodnow

Authors
  1. Stephen Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chris Goodnow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martin, S., Goodnow, C. Memory needs no reminders. Nature 407, 576–577 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35036673

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35036673

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing