The memory B cell response to influenza vaccination is impaired in older persons

Authors:

• Burton, Alice R.
• Guillaume, Stephane M.
• Foster, William S.
• Wheatley, Adam K.
• Hill, Danika L.
• Carr, Edward J.
• Linterman, Michelle A.

Details:

Cell Reports, Volume 41, Issue 6, 2022-11-08

Article Link: Click here

Influenza infection imparts an age-related increase in mortality and morbidity. The most effective countermeasure is vaccination; however, vaccines offer modest protection in older adults. To investigate how aging impacts the memory B cell response, we track hemagglutinin-specific B cells by indexed flow sorting and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in 20 healthy adults that were administered the trivalent influenza vaccine. We demonstrate age-related skewing in the memory B cell compartment 6 weeks after vaccination, with younger adults developing hemagglutinin-specific memory B cells with an F c RL5 + “atypical” phenotype, showing evidence of somatic hypermutation and positive selection, which happened to a lesser extent in older persons. We use publicly available scRNA-seq from paired human lymph node and blood samples to corroborate that F c RL5 + atypical memory B cells can derive from germinal center (GC) precursors. Together, this study shows that the aged human GC reaction and memory B cell response following vaccination is defective.