Key points:
- Researchers identified marginal zone B (MZB) cells – cells with a natural response to tuberculosis (TB) infection – as a target for new vaccines.
- During TB infection, B cells shifted their immune landscape toward the MZB cells.
- This discovery presents a new pathway for a TB vaccine that has the potential to provide more reliable and durable protection than the currently available option.
Scientists discovered an “unconventional” immune response that is a potential new pathway for developing vaccines for tuberculosis (TB). Their results detailing the novel mechanism are published in Cell Reports.
The team identified marginal zone B (MZB) cells – cells with a natural response to TB infection – as a target for new vaccines. They mapped the progress of TB infection in an animal model with high-dimension flow cytometry, which demonstrated that B cells shifted their immune landscape toward the MZB cells. This shift likely allows for MZB cells to execute regulatory functions against TB.
Next, researchers tracked the shift in detail. Their tracking showed that MZB cells have higher activity and memory-like phenotype expression in response to infection. Their expression then shapes cytokine patterns and increases cell mediated immunity.
“This discovery opens a new avenue in TB vaccine development, suggesting that targeting B cells for their regulatory functions could be a promising new strategy,” explained the study authors from Hackensack Meridian Health.
The only TB vaccine currently available – Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) – is very unreliable. The team hopes to leverage their MZB findings to improve BCG. This type of second-generation TB vaccine could provide reliable and durable protection from new infections and even help to cure existing TB infections along with antibiotic therapy.