Happy Monday, Mohammed! ;) You already know that there are B and T lymphocytes - but there are a few more subtypes that you should know about too. Although they look pretty similar to each other, these different kinds of lymphocytes do very different things. (((((((((((Five types of lymphocytes))))))))))))) Here are the major types of lymphocytes and their functions. B lymphocytes. These guys turn into plasma cells which make antibodies. Antibodies do a bunch of cool things, like neutralize microbes, coat (opsonize) things to make them yummy-looking to phagocytes, and activate complement . Helper T lymphocytes. These guys secrete cytokines that activate macrophages, call in inflammatory cells, and activate B and T lymphocytes. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These cells do one thing, and do it very well: kill infected cells. Regulatory T lymphocytes. There are just a few of these around, but they perform a very important task: they suppress the immune response (for example, they help get rid of lymphocytes that react against self). Natural killer lymphocytes. Like cytotoxic T cells, these guys kill infected cells. They are part of the innate immune system, though, and cytotoxic T lymphocytes are part of the adaptive immune system (remember way back about a week ago when we were talking about innate vs. adaptive?).
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 00:21:28 +0000
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