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Lymphocytes
Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells that help us fight disease!
T cells are named after the organ they develop in, the Thymus.
T cells are a type of white blood cell that play a crucial role in our immune system’s ability to fight infections and diseases. There are two main types of T cells: helper CD4 T cells and killer CD8 T cells. Helper CD4 T cells help activate and coordinate the immune response by communicating with other cells, while killer CD8 T cells directly attack and destroy infected or abnormal cells in the body. CD8 killer T cells are also known as cytotoxic T cells (CTLs). Together, these T cells work to keep us healthy and protected from harmful invaders such as virus, bacteria and abnormal cancerous cells.
Antibody producers B cells in the human body develop in the bone marrow and are responsible for producing antibodies. The antibodies produced by B cells circulate around our body and bind to specific viruses or bacteria to neutralize them and help get them killed by other cells of the immune system
B Cell Sticker
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Dendritic cells (DCs) are named after their branched projections called dendrites. These cells are the sentinels of the immune system and are always testing their surroundings in case they see any danger. DCs process antigens they pick up from their surrounding and present these to T cells.
Dendritic Cell Sticker
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A big challenge of the immune system in the intestine is being able to distinguish between harmful pathogens and at the same time be tolerant towards harmless antigens derived from food and commensal bacteria (good bacteria). Mechanisms to maintain tolerance are therefore necessary to avoid unwanted immune responses that may lead to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. The dendritic cells (DCs) found in the intestine are crucial to maintaining this equilibrium. DCs are constantly sampling antigens, such as food antigens. One way these cells sample antigens directly from the intestinal lumen is by inserting their dendritic processes between the epithelial cells layer. Reference 1. Dendritic cells express tight junction proteins and penetrate gut epithelial monolayers to sample bacteria. Nat Immunol. 2001 Apr;2(4):361-7.
This monocyte turned into a dendritic cell (DC) and doesn’t even know how it happened! Many researchers isolate monocytes and then derive them into DCs to do studies on these cells. It is a common method followed by people studying DCs that need to generate some cells for their experiments. Protocols to generate monocyte-derived dendritic cells (Mo-DCs)
DCs process antigens they pick up from their surrounding and present these to T cells.
The dendritic cell (DC) is presenting an antigen to a T cell but the T cell doesn’t recognize it. This is making the DC kind of sad. The T cell will only recognize and respond to the antigen and MHC combination presented, if it has a T cell receptor (TCR) that recognizes these. This process is called MHC restriction.
Macrophage
Macrophages are white blood cells. The word macrophage comes from the word macros “large” and phagein “eat”. Macrophages are big cells that eat.One of their main roles of these cells is to phagocytose (engulf and then digest) cellular debris and also pathogens such as bacteria. This process is known as PHAGOCYTOSIS.
Phagocytosis is a complex mechanism that requires for the macrophage to rearrange its inner cell bits to surround and engulf the target. This animation is a cartoon depicting a macrophage chasing bacteria to ultimately phagocytose them.
Macrophage Sticker
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Leukocyte extravasation is the movement of leukocytes out of the circulatory system and towards the site of tissue damage or infection. This process is regulated by a concerted action between endothelial cells and leukocytes, whereby endothelial cells activate leukocytes and direct them to extravasation sites, and leukocytes in turn instruct endothelial cells to open a path for transmigration.
Neutrophil
Neutrophils are the first cells to get to the site of infection, they are professional phagocytes and ferocious eaters that rapidly engulf invaders.
To analyze cells in the blood sometimes the red blood cells (RBCs) need to be removed. This can be done by lysing the cells. There are various RBC lysis buffers available that do just that.
These two red blood cells (RBCs) fell in love! Red blood cells are found in the blood and therefore in the vein, get the joke? 😛
Fears of an adipocyte
Adipocytes are fat cells, which specialize in storing energy as fat.
There are lots of people out there who make their new year’s resolutions to loose weight. It is no surprising that these fat cells are scared of shrinking or disappearing completely.
Adipocyte Sticker
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DAPI stands for 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and it is a fluorescent stain that binds to DNA in the nucleus. It is a stain used very often in fluorescence microscopy, when excited with ultraviolet light DAPI emits a blue light. This makes the stain very popular in fluorescence microscopy making the nuclei visible in a blue colour. As an example in the picture below there are various cells which you can distinguish by the blue nuclei and the cytoskeleton stained with another dye that emits a green light. The picture was taken from thermofisher.
Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are professional Type I IFN producers.