17.3D: Lymphocytes
- Page ID
- 50347
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system.
- Describe the role of lymphocytes
Key Points
- The main types of T cells are helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells, memory T cells, and regulatory T cells.
- The main types of B cells are plasma cells, plasmablasts, memory B cells, and regulatory B cells.
- T cells are involved in cell-mediated immunity, whereas B cells are primarily responsible for humoral ( antibody -related) immunity.
- If an antigen is detected again after the initial adaptive immune response, memory T cells create new helper and cytotoxic T cells, while memory B cells create new antibodies.
- Regulatory T and B cells suppress immune responses at the end of an infection and suppress T and B cells involved in autoimmunity.
Key Terms
- Memory T cells: A type of T cell that rapidly differentiates into helper and cytotoxic T cells if its associated antigen is detected.
- Plasma Cell: A type of B cell that produces most of the antibodies during development of adaptive immune response.
A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell in the immune system, including both the B and T cells of the adaptive immune system and natural killer (NK) cells of the innate immune system.
B and T cells and their various subdivisions perform many adaptive immune functions.
T Cells
T cells mature in the thymus and contain T cell receptors (TCRs) that allow them to bind to antigens on MHC complexes. T cells are a major component in cell-mediated adaptive immunity because they provide a pathway for the direct killing of pathogens. There are two main types of T cells that express either CD4 or CD8 depending on signals that occur during T cell maturation, as well as less common types:
- Helper T cells (CD4s) facilitate the organization of immune responses, and can bind to MHC class II. Subtype 2 helper T cells present antigens to B cells. Subtype 1 helper T cells produce cytokines that guide cytotoxic T cells to pathogens and activate macrophages.
- Cytotoxic T cells (CD8s) destroy pathogens associated with an
antigen. They function similarly to NK cells by binding to
MHC class I and releasing perforin, granzymes, and proteases to induce apoptosis in a pathogen. They are different from NK cells because they only bind to
cells that express their specific antigen, and are not large or granular like NK cells. - Suppressor T cells (T-reg cells) retain some of their ability to bind to self-cells. They have an immunosuppressive effect that inhibits cell-mediated immunity at the end of a response and destroys autoimmune T cells that aren’t filtered out by negative selection in the thymus.
- Memory T cells are created after an adaptive immune response subsides, retaining the presented antigen. They rapidly proliferate and differentiate into helper and cytotoxic T cells that are specific to that antigen should it be detected in the body again.
While these are the main categories of T lymphocytes, there are other subtypes within these categories as well as additional categories that are not fully understood.
B Cells
Lymphocyte: A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of a single human lymphocyte.
B cells are involved in humoral adaptive immunity, producing the antibodies that circulate through the plasma. They are produced and mature in bone marrow tissues and contain B cell receptors (BCRs) that bind to antigens. While in the bone marrow, B cells are sorted through positive and negative selection in a manner somewhat similiar to T cell maturation in the thymus, with the same process of killing B cells that are nonreactive to antigens or reactive to self-antigens. Instead of apoptosis, though, defective B cells are killed through other mechanisms such as clonal deletion. Mature B cells leave the thymus and travel to secondary lymphoid tissue such as the lymph nodes.
During antigen presentation, antigen-presenting cells first present antigens to T cells. Then mature helper T cells bind their antigen to naive B cells through BCRs. After antigen presentation, the naive B cells migrate together to germinal centers within the lymphoid tissue, where they undergo extensive proliferation and differentiation into different types of mature B cells. Some of the major categories of B cells that arise include:
- Plasma cell and long-lived B cells that are the main source of antibodies. They do not have the ability to proliferate and are considered terminally-differentiated.
- Plasmablasts are short-lived B cells produced early in an infection. Their antibodies have a weaker binding affinity than those of plasma cells.
- Regulatory B cells (B reg cells) are immunosuppresive B cells that secrete anti-inflammatory cytokines (such as IL-10) to inhibit autoimmune lymphocytes.
- Memory B cells are dormant B cells with the same BCR as the B cell from which they differentiated. They are specific to the antigen presented to that BCR and rapidly secrete large amounts of antigen-specific antibodies to prevent reinfection if that antigen is detected again.
Besides antibody production, B cells may also function in antigen presentation, though not to the degree of macrophages or dendritic cells. B cells are important to adaptive immune function but can cause problems as well. Autoreactive B cells may cause autoimmune disease that involves antibody-induced damage and inflammation. Certain B cells may undergo malignant tranformation into cancer cells such as lymphoma, in which they continually divide and form solid tumors.