{
  "abstract": "Germinal center (GC) B cells undergo extensive apoptosis, but how this process shapes evolving GC populations remains unclear. Using mice lacking intrinsic apoptotic effectors BAK and BAX in B cells, we found that mitochondrial apoptosis was dispensable for affinity maturation but critical for controlling GC size and cellular composition, showing that GC population dynamics and affinity maturation can be uncoupled. BAK/BAX-deficient mice mounted enlarged and prolonged GC responses, largely due to the accumulation of non-proliferating Ki-67loCD71lo dark zone (DZ) B cells. CD71hi and CD71lo DZ cells exhibited similar B-cell receptor (BCR) avidity, retained potential for proliferation and plasmacytic differentiation, and shared clonal lineages, indicating recurrent emergence of non-proliferating DZ populations. A subset also carried Somatic-hypermutation-derived defects that abolished antibody expression despite apparently productive V(D)J sequences; reversion of a single amino acid substitution often restored expression. Mitochondrial apoptosis thus enforces cellular quality control in the GC by limiting the persistence of non-proliferating and expression-defective states while remaining dispensable for affinity maturation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Duke University"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "C.-H. Yeh"
    },
    {
      "name": "N. Shenkerman"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Song"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. Kirshner"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Watanabe"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. Liao"
    },
    {
      "name": "X. Liang"
    },
    {
      "name": "W. Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Wiehe"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. Kelsoe"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "M. Kuraoka"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ft1ck1j3mr45x.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.10.750694",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750694v1.full",
  "id": "ft1ck1j3mr45x",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750694v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "immunology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2403|T-cell and B-cell Immunology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213296851",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750694v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-10",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ft1ck1j3mr45x.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:38Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.10.750694",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750694v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:immunology",
      "subfield": "immunology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Apoptotic Quality Control of Cellular Competence Limits Cryptic Germinal Center B Cell States",
  "title_text": "Apoptotic Quality Control of Cellular Competence Limits Cryptic Germinal Center B Cell States",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:38Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ft1ck1j3mr45x",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}