Download CAST OF CHARACTERS: WHITE BLOOD CELLS

CAST OF CHARACTERS: WHITE BLOOD CELLS
Leukocytes: colorless blood cells that protect the body against invading bacteria, viruses, or other foreign cells
Granulocytes: Leukocytes that contain granules (sacs) filled with potent chemicals
neutrophil: uses its prepackaged chemicals to degrade any microbe it ingests
eosinophil:
“degranulate” – release their chemicals to work on cells or microbes in
their surroundings
basophil:
Agranulocytes: leukocytes that lack visible cytoplasmic granules
Lymphocyte: arises from bone marrow and becomes functionally mature in the lymphoid organs
of the body
- large #’s of them are found in the body but only a small number in the blood stream
-
They are firmly emeshed in the lymphoid tissue
-Two kinds
1. T cells
- act directly against virus-infected cells and tumor cells
- mature in the thymus
- give cell-mediated immunity
-3 types:
helper T cells – essential for activating B cells and other T cells as well as
natural killer cells and macrophages
cytotoxic (killer) cells
– rid body of cells that have been infected by viruses
and by cancer cells, and responsible for rejection of tissue and organ grafts
suppressor T cells
– brings an end to the immune responses no longer needed
2. B cells
- give rise to plasma cells, which produce antibodies that are released to the blood
- grow independent of the thymus
- humoral immunity
Monocytes: once in tissues, monocytes differentiate into highly mobile macrophages “big eaters”
*Phagocytes: large white blood cells that can engulf and digest microorganisms and other antigenic particles –
“Cell eaters”