T and B cell cooperation: a dance of life and death

In order for the body to develop a good antibody response, B cells need to react intimately with antigen specific T cells. Experimental evidence using hapten-carriers revealed that T and B cells do not recognize the same epitope and this led to the view that the physical contact is mediated by the antigen. Although the modern concept of antigen presentation has changed our perception on how the antigen can bridge both cells, the basic virtues of earlier bridging models remain. Over the past few years, a number of surface ligand-receptor pathways have been described, most of them belonging either to the CD28/B7 Ig or to the TNF/TNFR-like families. These act in concert, whether they are agonist or antagonist, in a timely and spatially organized manner. They form cascades of successive induction and recruitment to ensure that T-B cooperation is closely controlled at all stages of antibody induction.