Researchers apply super-resolution methods to study organization of receptors on B lymphocytes

Antigen receptors on B lymphocytes sense foreign molecules, such as pathogens or vaccines, and activate the B cells to produce antibodies that protect humans against many diseases. Prof. Dr. Michael Reth, Scientific Director of BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, and his group have applied three different super-resolution methods to study the distribution of the two major classes of antigen receptors on mature B lymphocytes: IgM and IgD. It had been previously assumed that all proteins on the membrane, including receptors, are freely diffusing molecules that only become organized upon binding to specific ligands. Reth's group found out that IgM and IgD receptors are organized in protein islands.

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