Title: germinal center
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - germinal center
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13172
Status: current

Definition
Discrete area within lymph nodes and spleen where B-cell maturation and memory development occur.

Related Terms
- B-cell: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12937
- lymph nodes: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13397
- maturation: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13447
- memory: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13451
- spleen: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13690

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1169 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13172/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13172/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13172/xml

Citation: Citation: 'germinal center' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13172
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-14T00:52:31+00:00