https://www.pnas.org/content/116/51/25850
A better understanding of immunological principles is at the core of Nextera’s efforts to contribute to robust drug development in complex diseases. This paper describes a mechanism for better understanding of certain autoimmune diseases and blood cancers, and where our NextCore display technology was used to make a unique TCR-like antibody allowing for assessment of antigen presentation at epitope resolution in a preclinical cancer model.
B and T lymphocytes collaborate during immune responses to antigens. B cells use membrane-bound antibody as part of their antigen receptor while T cells use a different receptor that recognizes antigen fragments bound to MHC molecules. We show in this paper that T cells can recognize the variable parts of the B cell receptor when these are presented on MHC molecules. A prerequisite for such receptor cross-talk is that the B cell receptor binds antigen. The cross-talk results in collaboration between B and T cells and production of antibodies directed against the antigen. The findings have implications for basic immune regulation. The results may also help us understand the mechanism behind the development of SLE-like autoimmune diseases and B cell lymphomas.