B Cell Immunology and Antibody Engineering: From Germinal Centers to Therapeutic Design

This chapter reviews the latest advances in B lymphocyte biology, with an emphasis on germinal center dynamics, somatic hypermutation, and the cellular and molecular determinants of long-lived humoral immunity. It explores how recent mechanistic discoveries in B cell activation, class switching, and plasma cell differentiation are informing the design of next-generation antibody therapeutics and vaccine platforms. The chapter also addresses pathological aspects of B cell dysregulation, including its role in autoimmunity, lymphomagenesis, and immune-mediated inflammatory disorders.