B Cells & Humoral Immunity

B Lymphocyte

 T lymphocytes activate B lymphocytes.

 Different sorts of B cells with different receptors.
 Antigen Binds to receptors.
 Triggers cells to divide rapidly to give large numbers of plasma cells.
 Plasma cells produce antibodies against antigen. These antibodies bind to
antigen to form an antigen-antibody complex.
 When the antibody on the surface of a B lymphocyte meets a
complementary shaped antigen, it binds to it.
 Memory cells are also formed. They stay dormant in the blood until
stimulated by the same antigen again.
 Therefore they are part of specific defence mechanism, which provides a
long-lasting immunity.
 B Lymphocyte

 Stem cells are present in bone marrow of long bones.

 B lymphocytes mature in bone marrow from these stem cells
 B cells produce antibodies, thus involved in humoral immunity.
 Responds to foreign material outside body cells
 Responds to bacteria and viruses.
Y
Y

Y Y
antibody
nucleus

Y Y
Y
cytoplasm Y
*Each B lymphocyte
has a different shaped
Antibody on its surface plasma membrane
 Plasma cells

 Secrete antibodies directly

 These cells Survive for only few days.
 But each can make around 2000 antibodies every second during this brief
days.
 These antibodies destroy the pathogens and any toxins it produces.
 The plasma cells are responsible for the immediate defence of the body
against infection. This is also known as the primary immune response.
 Memory cells

 Live considerably longer than plasma cells, often for decades.

 These cells do not produce antibodies directly, but circulate in the blood
and tissue fluid.
 When they encounter the same antigen at a later date, they divide rapidly
and develop into plasma cells and more memory cells.
 Plasma cells produce the antibodies needed to destroy the pathogen,
while the new memory cells circulate in readiness for any future
infection.
 In this way, Memory cells provide long term immunity against the
original infection. This is known as the secondary immune response. It is
both rapid and of greater intensity than the primary immune response.
 Antigenic variability
 Why is disease such as chicken pox and measles develop once during
lifetime?
 Pathogens causing these diseases are of single type. Therefore quickly
identified but the memory cells during an invasion on the body.

 Antigenic variability is the change in an antigen present on the surface of

a microorganism. In Influenza virus, antigenic variation results in new
strains of the virus. People who have previously had influenza may not
be immune to a new strain. Thus, they survive the immune response of
their hosts.