B-cells and humoral response

• What is humoral response?

  involves specialised white blood cells called B-lymphocytes which target pathogens, producing antibodies
• what is a b-cell?

  a type of white blood cell that is produced and matures within the bone marrow. They produce antibodies.
• Primary humoral response:

  • surface antigens of an invading pathogen are taken up by a b cell
  • b cell gets the antigen from the pathogen or APC and presents the antigen on its cell surface membrane
  • T-helper cells bind to this antigen to activate the b cells
  • b cells begin to divide by mitosis (clone themselves) to form plasma cells and memory cells (clonal selection)
• secondary humoral response:

  • memory cells stay in the blood stream circulating
  • if they come into contact with the antigen again they divide to form plasma and memory cells
• in the primary response there are not many initial b cells to make the antibody . in the secondary response they produce antibodies much more quickly and new memory cells are made to provide long term immunity