Affinity-independent plasma cell differentiation in germinal centers.

The role of antibody affinity in plasma cell (PC) differentiation from germinal centers (GCs) remains contested. Parallel studies by Sprumont et al. and Sutton and Gao et al. show that PCs emerging from GCs produce antibodies with a diverse range of affinities and lack signatures of affinity-based selection. Therefore, commitment to the PC lineage is affinity independent.