During the past two decades, cells of the B-lymphocyte lineage have been the subject of intensive research. B-lymphocytes and antibodies play a crucial role in the body's defense against infection, but can also be responsible for producing certain diseases. This volume provides an up-to-date discussion of the cellular and molecular biology of antibodies and the cells that produce them. Researchers discuss the fundamentals of B-cell biology that are crucial to understanding how cells and their antibody products generate a range of malignant, autoimmune and immunodeficiency disorders. The discussion of human diseases in the second part of the book provides an interface between recent advances in B-cell biology and B-cell related disease processes.