Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (744 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
A subset of activated B cells generated in response to primary immune challenge or immunization which are capable of giving rise to antibody-secreting cells upon re-challenge (see immunologic memory). Memory B cells feature many discrete properties indicative of differentiation through isotype switching and/or immunoglobulin somatic hypermutation for rapid and robust recall of specific antibody responses.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: B Cell, Memory; Memory B Cell; Memory B-Lymphocytes; B-Lymphocyte, Memory; B-Lymphocytes, Memory; Memory B-Lymphocyte; Memory B Lymphocytes.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- B-Lymphocyte Subsets; Immunological Memory Cells
Related concepts
- Immunologic Memory
- Isotype Switching
- Immunoglobulin Somatic Hypermutation
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 560 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Memory B Cells” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 559 of them (99.8%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2020 onward with 559 records.
Reviews account for 46 records (8.2%) and meta-analyses for 2. Randomized controlled trials number 9 (1.6%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 0 |
| 2000-2009 | 0 |
| 2010-2019 | 1 |
| 2020 onward | 559 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 46 | 8.2% |
| Meta-analyses | 2 | 0.4% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 9 | 1.6% |
Method: PubMed query "Memory B Cells"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in anatomy and physiology
Anatomy describes how body structures are built and physiology describes how they normally work, so most findings here are descriptive or mechanistic rather than evidence about treatment. Much of what is known comes from dissection, imaging, tissue studies and experiments in animals, and measurements in healthy volunteers can differ from those in people with disease or at different ages. Normal ranges vary between individuals and populations. Check whether a result was measured in people or in another species, the age and health of the participants, and the method used.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unadjuvanted intranasal spike vaccine elicits protective mucosal immunity against sarbecoviruses | 2022 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 325 | cc by PMID 36302057 · DOI · PMC9798903 |
| Memory B cell repertoire from triple vaccinees against diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants | 2022 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 161 | cc by PMID 35090164 · DOI · PMC8967717 |
| Hybrid immunity improves B cells and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants | 2021 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 158 | cc by PMID 34670266 · DOI · PMC8674140 |
| Intranasal booster drives class switching and homing of memory B cells for mucosal IgA response | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 8 | cc by PMID 41433108 · DOI · PMC12892890 |
Unadjuvanted intranasal spike vaccine elicits protective mucosal immunity against sarbecoviruses [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has highlighted the need for vaccines that not only prevent disease but also prevent transmission.
- Closing excerpt
- Using divergent spike proteins, prime and spike enables the induction of cross-reactive immunity against sarbecoviruses.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (124 words)
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has highlighted the need for vaccines that not only prevent disease but also prevent transmission. Parenteral vaccines induce robust systemic immunity but poor immunity at the respiratory mucosa. We developed a vaccine strategy that we call "prime and spike," which leverages existing immunity generated by primary vaccination (prime) to elicit mucosal immune memory within the respiratory tract by using unadjuvanted intranasal spike boosters (spike). We show that prime and spike induces robust resident memory B and T cell responses, induces immunoglobulin A at the respiratory mucosa, boosts systemic immunity, and completely protects mice with partial immunity from lethal SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using divergent spike proteins, prime and spike enables the induction of cross-reactive immunity against sarbecoviruses.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 36302057 · DOI · PMC9798903
Memory B cell repertoire from triple vaccinees against diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Omicron (B.
- Closing excerpt
- Our results rationalize the use of three-dose immunization regimens and suggest that the fundamental epitopes revealed by these broadly ultrapotent antibodies are rational targets for a universal sarbecovirus vaccine.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (253 words)
Omicron (B.1.1.529), the most heavily mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant so far, is highly resistant to neutralizing antibodies, raising concerns about the effectiveness of antibody therapies and vaccines1,2. Here we examined whether sera from individuals who received two or three doses of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine could neutralize authentic Omicron. The seroconversion rates of neutralizing antibodies were 3.3% (2 out of 60) and 95% (57 out of 60) for individuals who had received 2 and 3 doses of vaccine, respectively. For recipients of three vaccine doses, the geometric mean neutralization antibody titre for Omicron was 16.5-fold lower than for the ancestral virus (254). We isolated 323 human monoclonal antibodies derived from memory B cells in triple vaccinees, half of which recognized the receptor-binding domain, and showed that a subset (24 out of 163) potently neutralized all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including Omicron. Therapeutic treatments with representative broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies were highly protective against infection of mice with SARS-CoV-2 Beta (B.1.351) and Omicron. Atomic structures of the Omicron spike protein in complex with three classes of antibodies that were active against all five variants of concern defined the binding and neutralizing determinants and revealed a key antibody escape site, G446S, that confers greater resistance to a class of antibodies that bind on the right shoulder of the receptor-binding domain by altering local conformation at the binding interface. Our results rationalize the use of three-dose immunization regimens and suggest that the fundamental epitopes revealed by these broadly ultrapotent antibodies are rational targets for a universal sarbecovirus vaccine.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 35090164 · DOI · PMC8967717
Hybrid immunity improves B cells and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants is jeopardizing the effectiveness of current vaccines and limiting the application of monoclonal antibody-based therapy for COVID-19 (refs.
- Closing excerpt
- Our data suggest that people who are seropositive following infection or primary vaccination will produce antibodies with increased potency and breadth and will be able to better control emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (188 words)
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants is jeopardizing the effectiveness of current vaccines and limiting the application of monoclonal antibody-based therapy for COVID-19 (refs. 1,2). Here we analysed the memory B cells of five naive and five convalescent people vaccinated with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine to investigate the nature of the B cell and antibody response at the single-cell level. Almost 6,000 cells were sorted, over 3,000 cells produced monoclonal antibodies against the spike protein and more than 400 cells neutralized the original SARS-CoV-2 virus first identified in Wuhan, China. The B.1.351 (Beta) and B.1.1.248 (Gamma) variants escaped almost 70% of these antibodies, while a much smaller portion was impacted by the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and B.1.617.2 (Delta) variants. The overall loss of neutralization was always significantly higher in the antibodies from naive people. In part, this was due to the IGHV2-5;IGHJ4-1 germline, which was found only in people who were convalescent and generated potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies. Our data suggest that people who are seropositive following infection or primary vaccination will produce antibodies with increased potency and breadth and will be able to better control emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 34670266 · DOI · PMC8674140
Intranasal booster drives class switching and homing of memory B cells for mucosal IgA response [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Mucosal secretory IgA (sIgA) plays a central role in protecting against the invasion of respiratory pathogen via the upper respiratory tract.
- Closing excerpt
- Our findings demonstrate that intranasal booster can be an effective strategy for inducing upper respiratory mucosal sIgA and establishing mucosal immune protection.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (179 words)
Mucosal secretory IgA (sIgA) plays a central role in protecting against the invasion of respiratory pathogen via the upper respiratory tract. To understand how intranasal booster induces mucosal sIgA response in humans, we first used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for peptide identification of immunoglobulin (MS Ig-seq) and single-cell B cell receptor sequencing (scBCR-seq) to identify 42 mucosal spike-specific sIgA monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) after intranasal booster. These mucosal sIgA mAbs exhibited enhanced neutralization up to 100-fold against SARS-CoV-2 variants compared with their monomeric IgG and IgA isotypes. Deep sequencing and longitudinal analysis of B cell receptor repertoires revealed that intranasal booster restimulates memory B cells primed by intramuscular vaccination to undergo IgA class switching, somatic hypermutation, and clonal expansion. Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) revealed that intranasal booster upregulated the expression of mucosal homing receptors in spike-specific IgA-expressing B cells. This increase coincided with a transient increase of cytokines and chemokines that facilitate B cell recruitment in the nasal mucosa. Our findings demonstrate that intranasal booster can be an effective strategy for inducing upper respiratory mucosal sIgA and establishing mucosal immune protection.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41433108 · DOI · PMC12892890
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article The germinal centre B cell response to SARS-CoV-2 [5]
- Research article Memory B cells [6]
- Research article The essential roles of memory B cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus [7]
- Research article Resident Memory B Cells in Barrier Tissues [8]
- Research article CD27 on human memory B cells-more than just a surface marker [9]
- Research article Generation of High Quality Memory B Cells [10]
References
- Mao T, Israelow B, Peña-Hernández MA, Suberi A, Zhou L, Luyten S, et al.. Unadjuvanted intranasal spike vaccine elicits protective mucosal immunity against sarbecoviruses. . 2022. PMID 36302057 · DOI · PMC9798903
- Wang K, Jia Z, Bao L, Wang L, Cao L, Chi H, et al.. Memory B cell repertoire from triple vaccinees against diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants. . 2022. PMID 35090164 · DOI · PMC8967717
- Andreano E, Paciello I, Piccini G, Manganaro N, Pileri P, Hyseni I, et al.. Hybrid immunity improves B cells and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants. . 2021. PMID 34670266 · DOI · PMC8674140
- Chen S, Zhang Z, Lin Z, Yin L, Ning L, Liu W, et al.. Intranasal booster drives class switching and homing of memory B cells for mucosal IgA response. . 2026. PMID 41433108 · DOI · PMC12892890
- Laidlaw BJ, Ellebedy AH. The germinal centre B cell response to SARS-CoV-2. Nat Rev Immunol. 2022. PMID 34873279 · DOI · PMC8647067
- Inoue T, Kurosaki T. Memory B cells. Nat Rev Immunol. 2024. PMID 37400644 · DOI
- Dörner T, Lipsky PE. The essential roles of memory B cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2024. PMID 39511302 · DOI
- Lee CM, Oh JE. Resident Memory B Cells in Barrier Tissues. Front Immunol. 2022. PMID 35924234 · DOI · PMC9341246
- Grimsholm O. CD27 on human memory B cells-more than just a surface marker. Clin Exp Immunol. 2023. PMID 36508329 · DOI
- Inoue T, Shinnakasu R, Kurosaki T. Generation of High Quality Memory B Cells. Front Immunol. 2021. PMID 35095929 · DOI · PMC8790150
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.