Editing Memory B cell (section)

== Vaccination ==
[[Vaccine]]s are based on the notion of [[immunological memory]]. The preventative injection of a non-pathogenic [[antigen]] into the organism allows the body to generate a durable [[immunological memory]]. The injection of the antigen leads to an antibody response followed by the production of memory B cells. These memory B cells are promptly reactivated upon infection with the antigen and can effectively protect the organism from disease.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dhenni R, Phan TG | title = The geography of memory B cell reactivation in vaccine-induced immunity and in autoimmune disease relapses | journal = Immunological Reviews | volume = 296 | issue = 1 | pages = 62–86 | date = July 2020 | pmid = 32472583 | doi = 10.1111/imr.12862 | s2cid = 219103939 }}</ref>

[[Long-lived plasma cell|Long-lived plasma cells]] and memory B cells are responsible for the long-term humoral immunity elicited by most vaccines. An experiment has been carried in order to observe the longevity of memory B cells after vaccination, in this case with the [[smallpox vaccine]] (DryVax), which was selected due to the fact that [[smallpox]] was eradicated, so the immune memory to smallpox is a useful benchmark to understand the longevity of the immune memory B cells in the absence of restimulation. The study concluded that the specific memory B cells are maintained for decades, indicating that the immunological memory is long-lived in the B cell compartment after a robust initial antigen exposure.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Crotty|first1=Shane|last2=Felgner|first2=Phil|last3=Davies|first3=Huw|last4=Glidewell|first4=John|last5=Villarreal|first5=Luis|last6=Ahmed|first6=Rafi|date=2003-11-15|title=Cutting Edge: Long-Term B Cell Memory in Humans after Smallpox Vaccination|journal=The Journal of Immunology|language=en|volume=171|issue=10|pages=4969–4973|doi=10.4049/jimmunol.171.10.4969|pmid=14607890 |s2cid=32215286 |issn=0022-1767|doi-access=free}}</ref>