Beta-lymphocytes in Human Disease

Antibodies and B lymphocytes play a crucial role on the body's defences against infection, but can also be responsible for certain diseases. This work provides a discussion of the cellular and molecular biology of antibodies and the cells that produce them, relating this to the areas of clinical medicine in which B cells are of major importance. The work includes a series of up-to-date reviews of major aspects of B lymphocyte biology provided by researchers in the field and examines the cellular and molecular changes involved in the differentiation of a stem cell into an antigen-responsive B cell, and subsequently into an antibody-secreting plasma cell. The fundamentals of B cell biology are crucial for a proper understanding of the ways in which the cells and their antibody products are responsible for the producing of a range of malignant, autoimmune and immunodeficiency disorders. The second section of this work discusses selected areas of human disease with the aim of providing an interface between recent advances in B cell biology and B cell related disease processes.