Lecture 5b: B Cell Signaling + Activation 

UCSD Extension School: Applied Immunology (BIOL-40371)
Spring Quarter 2021
This lecture summarizes signal transduction pathways engaged downstream of B cell receptor (BCR) signaling and provides a comparison to analogous pathways engaged downstream of the T cell receptor (TCR). It also covers the 2 main categories of antigens that can activate B cells, and the effects that these have on either IgM antibody responses that provide immediate protection or germinal center responses that provide higher quality antibodies through the processes of affinity maturation and class switching.
All figures are either from Janeway's Immunobiology (9th ed.) where noted, or my own original figures.