Metabolic quiescence for B cell maturity

Immunometabolism Transitional B cell precursors mature into follicular B cells, which are involved in antibody responses. Farmer et al. discovered a metabolic checkpoint in this developmental process. Compared with transitional B cells, mouse and human follicular B cells were metabolically quiescent and had increased activation of the kinase AMPK and increased levels of the cell surface ectoenzymes CD39 and CD73, which generate extracellular adenosine. Transitional human B cells that expressed CD73 or were exposed to an AMPK agonist preferentially acquired a follicular B cell phenotype. Sci. Signal. 12 , eaaw5573 (2019).