The failure to generate enduring humoral immunity after vaccination is a hallmark of advancing age. This can be attributed to a reduction in the germinal center response, which generates long-lived antibody-secreting cells that provide protection against (re)infection. Despite intensive investigation into the effect of age on the lymphoid compartment, the primary cellular defect that causes impaired germinal centers in aging has not been identified. Herein we demonstrate that aging reduces the capacity of germinal center-associated stromal cells to respond to vaccination. Heterochronic parabiosis and mathematical modeling demonstrate that a poor stromal cell response limits the size of the germinal center. This study reveals that age-associated defects in stromal cells are a significant barrier to efficacious vaccine responses in older individuals.

中文翻译：

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淋巴结基质细胞的内在缺陷支持衰老过程中较差的生发中心反应

疫苗接种后未能产生持久的体液免疫是年龄增长的标志。这可以归因于生发中心反应的减少，这会产生长寿命的抗体分泌细胞，从而提供针对（再）感染的保护作用。尽管深入研究了年龄对淋巴区的影响，但尚未发现导致衰老的生发中心受损的主要细胞缺陷。在这里，我们证明了衰老降低了生发中心相关基质细胞对疫苗接种的反应能力。异时共生和数学建模表明，较差的基质细胞反应限制了生发中心的大小。这项研究表明，基质细胞中与年龄相关的缺陷是老年人有效疫苗反应的重要障碍。