# Storage and recall of human B cell memory of influenza over tissues and time

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $392,800

## Abstract

Project Summary
Each individual elicits a diverse and complex mixture of different B cell clonal lineages after vaccination or
infection, some of which are retained as memory B cells or plasma cells. However, the relationships between
antibody specificity and affinity in determining which B cell lineages persist, which cellular compartments they
occupy, and what future antigens they are able to recognize are not well understood. Detailed molecular
understanding of the changes that decrease vaccine responses in old age has also been an elusive goal. We
aim to overcome these barriers by studying a 5-year longitudinal cohort of healthy young adult and elderly
human subjects vaccinated with seasonal influenza vaccine, as well as a cohort of deceased organ donors
whose spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow, and blood are sampled. We will compare the antibody repertoires
and binding specificities of influenza-specific cells found in memory B cell pools compared to blood
plasmablasts and a distinct CD71+ subset of “activated B cells” in the longitudinal cohort, and memory B cells
in lymph nodes and spleen compared to bone marrow plasma cell (BMPC) pools in the organ donors.
By studying the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) specificity of unmutated ancestors of antibody lineages, and the
mutated memory B cell, plasmablast, activated B cell and BMPC progeny, we will determine: the extent to
which somatic mutation alters the HA specificity of later members of the clonal lineage; whether future vaccine
responses can be predicted from an individual's memory B cell pool; whether BMPCs are subject to different
selection criteria than the memory B cells in the lymph nodes, spleen and blood; and the impact of human
aging on each of these critical components of humoral immunity. This knowledge will help to shape strategies
for improved vaccines for influenza, as well as the whole range of emerging pathogens for which new vaccines
need to be developed.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10101607
- **Project number:** 5R01AI127877-05
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Scott Dexter Boyd
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $392,800
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-01-13 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10101607

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10101607, Storage and recall of human B cell memory of influenza over tissues and time (5R01AI127877-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10101607. Licensed CC0.

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