Germinal centers (GCs) are well known for their important role in shaping the secondary B cell repertoire to generate antibodies capable of binding with high-affinity and specificity to foreign antigens. Somatic hypermutation of the Ig variable region genes in GC B cells represents a highly efficient mechanism for generating new antibody variants with increased antigen affinity. To be effective, however, this process needs to be intimately linked with equally efficient processes that positively select high-affinity clones for perpetuation in the GC and, ultimately, for differentiation into plasma cell and memory B cell effector populations. Just as important is the need for mechanisms of negative selection that remove GC B cell clones with unwanted specificities, particularly those that have gained reactivity with self-components. Here, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the various selective processes that occur within the GC and identify the major questions in this field that remain to be answered.

中文翻译：

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在生发中心选择。

生殖中心（GC）在塑造次生B细胞库以产生能够以高亲和力和特异性结合外源抗原的抗体中发挥重要作用而众所周知。GC B细胞中Ig可变区基因的体细胞超突变代表了一种产生具有增加的抗原亲和力的新抗体变异体的高效机制。但是，要使该过程有效，就需要与同样有效的过程紧密联系，这些过程必须积极选择高亲和力克隆以在GC中永存，并最终分化为浆细胞和记忆B细胞效应子群。同样重要的是，需要负选择机制去除具有不想要的特异性的GC B细胞克隆，特别是那些与自身成分具有反应性的克隆。这里，