NIH R01 · 2024
CD138 Regulates Competition of Antibody Secreting Cells for Survival
Abstract Vaccinations are one of the most beneficial and cost-effective public health programs. Unfortunately, many vaccines need repeated boosting to maintain antibody levels. In particular, humoral responses are weaker in older adults for a number of reasons. For example, immunization with live measles virus produces antibody titers that are maintained for 50 years, while protein vaccines, such as tetanus or anthrax toxin, require routine booster shots every five years to maintain antibody titer. The reasons for this variability are poorly understood, but as steady-state antibody titers are directly dependent on long- lived antibody secreting cells (LLASCs), these cells may be dying over…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.