Biochemical coordination of plasma cell genesis

Antibody-secreting plasma cells are a central component of short- and long-term adaptive immunity. Yet, many fundamental questions about how activated B cells decide to yield functional plasma cells have yet to be answered. Likewise, the biochemical processes underpinning the ability of plasma cells to generate and secrete large numbers of antibodies, the capacity of some plasma cell to sustain antibody secretion, presumably without interruption, for decades, and the capacity of long-lived plasma cells to avoid apoptosis despite the high-energy demands associated with sustained robust antibody synthesis and secretion each remain mysterious processes. Our objective here is to review what is currently known about …