Two waves of memory B-cell generation in the primary immune response

Memory B cells can be generated independently of germinal center (GC) formation and affinity maturation in Bcl-6-deficient mice, but the contribution of the GC-independent pathway for memory B-cell generation in normal mice remains unknown. To examine this, we administrated anti-inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) mAbs into mice at the onset of GC formation in the primary response. This manipulation affected the generation of GC B cells in the spleen, but neither IgG1 memory B cell nor production of IgG1 long-term antibody was affected. In ICOS-manipulated mice, GC B cells accumulated somatic mutations in the IgVH genes and underwent affinity maturation; however, memory B cells scarcely accumulated mutations and reconstituted the secondary response by low affinity, supporting the notion that low-affinity memory B cells are generated in a GC-independent manner. Thus, it appears that memory B cells are established by two different pathways, associated with or without GC reaction and affinity maturation. The generation and long-term persistence of low-affinity IgG1 memory B cells and antibodies in ICOS-manipulated mice support the idea that low-affinity memory B cells may give rise to long-term antibody-forming cells.