Data for: Low protease activity in B cell follicles promotes retention of intact antigens after immunization

The structural integrity of vaccine antigens is critical to the generation
of protective antibody responses, but the impact of protease activity on
vaccination in vivo is poorly understood. We characterized protease
activity in lymph nodes and found that antigens were rapidly degraded in
the subcapsular sinus, paracortex, and interfollicular regions, whereas
low protease activity and antigen degradation rates were detected in the
vicinity of follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). Correlated with these
findings, immunization regimens designed to target antigen to FDCs led to
germinal centers dominantly targeting intact antigen, whereas traditional
immunizations led to much weaker responses that equally targeted the
intact immunogen and antigen breakdown products. Thus, spatially
compartmentalized antigen proteolysis affects humoral immunity and can be
exploited.