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Chapter: Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology: Lymphatic System and Immunity

Origin and Development of Lymphocytes

To understand how lymphocytes are responsible for antibody-mediated and cell-mediated immunity, it is important to know how lymphocytes originate and become specialized immune cells.

Origin and Development of Lymphocytes

To understand how lymphocytes are responsible for antibody-mediated and cell-mediated immunity, it is important to know how lymphocytes originate and become specialized immune cells. Stem cells in red bone marrow are capable of giving rise to all theblood cells (see figure 11.2). Some stem cells give rise to pre-T cells, which migrate through the blood to the thymus, where they divide and are processed into T cells (figure 14.9). Other stem cells produce pre-B cells, which are processed in the red bone marrow into B cells.




 B cells are released from red bone marrow, and T cells are released from the thymus. Both types of cells move through the blood to lymphatic tissues (see figure 14.7). These lymphocytes live for a few months to many years and continually circulate between the blood and the lymphatic tissues. Normally, there are about five T cells for every B cell in the blood. When stimulated by an antigen, B cells and T cells divide, producing cells that are responsible for the destruction of antigens.


 Small groups of identical B cells or T cells, called clones, form during embryonic development. Each clone is derived from a single, unique B cell or T cell. Each clone can respond only to a particular antigen. However, there is such a large variety of clones that the immune system can react to most antigens. Among the antigens to which the clones can respond are self-antigens. Because this response could destroy the body’s own cells, clones acting against self-antigens are ­normally eliminated or suppressed. Most of this process occurs during prenatal development, but it also continues after birth and throughout a person’s lifetime.




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Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology: Lymphatic System and Immunity : Origin and Development of Lymphocytes |


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