Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42907582›Full record

ArticleNature immunology2026

Spatial confinement promotes germinal center diversity and tempers immunodominance.

Kevin Y Chen, Kenneth H Hu, Nikhita Kirthivasan, Anshul Rao, Niklas Schwan, Jinping An, Ying Xu, Vincent Peng, Mélia Magnen, Sijin Huang and 9 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature immunology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Kevin Y ChenHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. kevin.chen3@ucsf.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5299-8368
Kenneth H HuDepartment of Immunology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Nikhita Kirthivasan *Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-4864-7799
Anshul Rao *Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Niklas Schwan *Department of Systems Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany.
Jinping AnHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Ying XuHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Vincent PengDepartment of Gastroenterology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Mélia MagnenUniversité de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, INSERM, P3Cell UMR-S1250, SFR CAP-SANTE, Reims, France.
Sijin HuangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Qian YinDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Debraj GhoseWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Caroline AlexanderThe Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-9690-2296
Jack SmerczynskiThe Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Michael Meyer-HermannDepartment of Systems Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4300-2474
Matthew F KrummelDepartment of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7915-3533
Vamsee MallajosyulaInstitute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0658-3652
Daniel LingwoodThe Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5631-9238
Jason G CysterHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. jason.cyster@ucsf.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5707-9256

Funding

MEDICAL SCIENTIST TRAINING PROGRAMT32GM007618 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI ANDERSON, MARK S · 1985 to 2020
$29.6M
Systemic coordination of pro-inflammatory immune reactions through dendritic cell-restricted sIL6R biogenesisR01AI155447 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI LINGWOOD, DANIEL · 2021 to 2025
$2.0M
Elicitation of pan-influenza A antibodies via simple B cell development pathwaysR01AI195539 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI Facundo Damian Batista, Daniel Lingwood · 2026 to 2026
$661k
Determining the role of oxysterols in lymphocyte homing to lymph nodes in homeostasis and inflammationF30AI176727 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI KEVIN Y CHEN · 2023 to 2026
$191k
Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas) RR230012U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) F30AI176727U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) R01AI155447U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) R01AI195539U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) R01 AI45073U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) R01AI45073U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) T32GM007618
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Germinal centers (GCs) form as confined clusters of motile cells within individual lymphoid follicles. The role of confinement in GC B cell evolutionary events is unknown. Here, using mice with reduced GC confinement because of deficiency in Gα13-dependent G-protein-coupled receptor signaling, we observed GC-GC trafficking in confinement-defective lymph nodes (LNs). In multicolor clonal lineage tracing mice, de-confined GCs minimally diversified their color palettes with respect to one another. Spatial B cell receptor sequencing revealed greater clonal crossover between neighboring GCs in the setting of dispersal. The total GC B cell repertoire of LNs with inter-GC exchange also decreased in overall diversity because of increased skewing toward top clones. As an outcome, LNs with de-confined GCs more strongly favored clones responding to accessible epitopes while losing clones binding to other portions of antigen. Together, our findings suggest that confinement supports antibody breadth by moderating the spread of dominant clones and preserving unique trajectories in individual GC responses.

Identifiers

PMID42907582

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.