{
  "abstract": "Ageing profoundly impairs vaccine efficacy, leaving older individuals highly susceptible to infectious diseases despite vaccination. Although B cells retain the intrinsic capacity to generate germinal centre (GC) responses in older people, age-associated defects in T cells, dendritic cells and follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) limit the development of high-affinity, class-switched antibody responses. Here, we hypothesised that senescent fibroblasts disrupt B cell activation and expansion, thus contributing to the diminution of the humoral response in ageing. To test this hypothesis, we established an in vitro system in which human tonsil-derived YK6 fibroblasts expressing CD40L are co-cultured with PBMC-derived B cells. B cell activation, proliferation, and phenotype in response to low- and high-stimulation conditions was determined in co-culture with control or bleomycin-treated YK6 fibroblasts. Control YK6 fibroblasts promoted B-cell activation and proliferation in both 2D and 3D cultures, whereas bleomycin-treated fibroblasts robustly inhibited B-cell proliferation without impairing early activation. Conditioned media from bleomycin-treated fibroblasts partially reduced B cell proliferation, although to a lesser extent than direct co-culture, suggesting cell-cell contact was key to inhibiting B cell proliferation. Bleomycin-treated YK6 fibroblasts upregulated genes associated with impaired lymphocyte responses, such as PDCD1LG2, which may impact B cell activation. Indeed, B cells co-cultured with bleomycin-treated fibroblasts failed to fully initiate glycolysis and were essentially unable to synthesise new protein. Together, these findings suggest that senescence-like changes in fibroblasts could restrict B-cell proliferative capacity, which may contribute to impaired B cell responses in ageing.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Imperial College London, London, UK."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Kassandra Vezyrgianni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1034-5355"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Elizabeth MacLeod",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-0869-6184"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Abigail Nutley",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-9153-7904"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yuchen Zhu",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-7117-5180"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alice E Denton",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4580-3443"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/159jaekt7bznv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1111/acel.70766",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13673512",
  "id": "159jaekt7bznv",
  "issns": [
    "1474-9718",
    "1474-9726"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42885644",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2403|T-cell and B-cell Immunology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222712331",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13673512?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13673512",
  "pmid": "42885644",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/159jaekt7bznv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:16Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42885644",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42885644"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2403|T-cell and B-cell Immunology",
      "subfield": "immunology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Senescent Fibroblasts Impair B Cell Proliferation via Cell-Cell Contact.",
  "title_text": "Senescent Fibroblasts Impair B Cell Proliferation via Cell-Cell Contact.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:16Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/159jaekt7bznv",
  "venue": "Aging cell",
  "versions": []
}