Human Peripheral B Cell Subsets: Evolving notions about B cell biology and the broad relevance of B cells in disease.

This review will focus on some aspects of the biology of human peripheral B cells and how this biology might inform us as to why these cells are important therapeutic targets. Transitional B cells and the alterations in metabolism in transitional B cells as they mature may be relevant to the induction of B cell tolerance. The human extrafollicular B cell response and the activated B cell subsets that emerge both in extrafollicular responses as well as in germinal center responses will be discussed. The relatively transient nature of activated B cells in contrast to durable memory B cells will be considered and the review will also discuss how durable responses are generated both by extrafollicular responses as well as by germinal center responses.