Plasma Cell

(noun)

A type of B cell that produces most of the antibodies during development of adaptive immune response.

Related Terms

  • Memory T cells
  • T cells
  • B cells
  • natural killer (NK) cells

Examples of Plasma Cell in the following topics:

  • Lymphocytes

    • Subtype 2 helper T cells present antigens to B cells.
    • Suppressor T cells (T-reg cells) retain some of their ability to bind to self-cells.
    • B cells are involved in humoral adaptive immunity, producing the antibodies that circulate through the plasma.
    • Plasma cell and long-lived B cells that are the main source of antibodies.
    • Their antibodies have a weaker binding affinity than those of plasma cells.
  • Components of Blood

    • Blood is composed of plasma and three types of cells: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
    • Blood is a circulating tissue composed of fluid, plasma, and cells.
    • By volume, the RBCs constitute about 45% of whole blood, the plasma about 54.3%, and white blood cells about 0.7%.
    • The ratio of RBCs to blood plasma is referred to as the hematocrit, and is normally about 45%.
    • There are several different types of white blood cells: basophils, eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes, natural killer cells, B- and T-cell lymphocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells, all of which perform distinct functions.
  • Transfusions of Whole Blood

    • Most blood banks now split the whole blood into two or more components, typically red blood cells and a plasma component such as fresh frozen plasma, which is extracted frozen plasma from the blood splitting process.
    • Centrifuge quickly separates whole blood into plasma, buffy coat, and red cells by using centrifugal force to drop the cellular components to the bottom of a container.
    • Sedimentation, in which whole blood sits overnight, causing the red blood cells and plasma to settle and slowly separate by the force of normal gravity.
    • Whole blood is sometimes "recreated" from stored red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma for neonatal transfusions.
    • This provides a final product with a very specific hematocrit (percentage of red cells) with type O red cells and type AB plasma to minimize the chance of complications.
  • Potassium Balance Regulation

    • Cell K+ concentration is about 150 mmol/l but varies in different organs.
    • The body buffers the extra potassium by equilibrating it within the cells.
    • The acid base status controls the distribution between plasma and cells.
    • A high pH (ie. alkalosis >7.4) favors movement of K+ into the cells whilst a low pH (ie. acidosis) causes movement out of the cell.
    • Conversely, a person who is alkalotic with a plasma K+ of 3.4 mmol/l may have normal total body potassium.
  • Maturation of B Cells

    • B cells are lymphocytes that play a large role in the humoral immune response (as opposed to the cell-mediated immune response, which is governed by T cells) .
    • Once a B cell encounters its cognate antigen and receives an additional signal from a T helper cell, it can further differentiate into either plasma B cells or memory B cells.
    • B cells exist as clones.
    • Most of such B cells differentiate into plasma cells that secrete antibodies into blood that bind the same epitope that elicited proliferation in the first place.
    • B cells that encounter antigen for the first time are known as naive B cells.
  • Clonal Selection and B-Cell Differentiation

    • B cells are lymphocytes that play a large role in the humoral immune response (as opposed to the cell-mediated immune response, which is governed by T cells).
    • B cells that have not been exposed to antigen, also known as naïve B cells, can be activated in a T cell-dependent or -independent manner.
    • T Cell Dependent Activation- activation of B cells by type 2 helper T cells in the lymph nodes.
    • B Cell differentiation refers to the process by which B cells change into different types, such as plasma cells and plasma blasts.
    • T cell-dependent B cell activation, showing a TH2-cell (left), B cell (right), and several interaction molecules
  • Blood Plasma

    • Plasma comprises about 55% of total blood volume.
    • About 55% of blood is blood plasma, a straw-colored liquid matrix in which blood cells are suspended.
    • One percent of the plasma is salt, which helps with pH.
    • Human blood plasma volume averages about 2.7–3.0 liters.
    • However, during endothelial injury, damaged cells will release tissue factor, another type of clotting factor that causes a cascade of thrombin production that will overpower the anticoagulants and cause a clotting response.
  • Fluid Compartments

    • The extracellular fluid can be divided into two major subcompartments, interstitial fluid and blood plasma.
    • The volume of ECF is typically 15L (of which 12L is interstitial fluid and 3L is plasma).
    • Blood plasma is the straw-colored/pale-yellow liquid component of blood that normally holds the blood cells in whole blood in suspension, making it a type of ECM for blood cells and a diverse group of molecules.
    • It is the smallest component of extracellular fluid, which also includes interstitial fluid and plasma.
    • The cytosol (#11) is the fluid within the plasma membrane of a cell and contains the organelles.
  • Desmosomes

    • A desmosome is a type of cell junction that attaches to keratin in the cytoplasm and is a localized structure adjoining two cells.
    • The cell adhesion proteins of the desmosome - desmoglein and desmocollin - are members of the cadherin family of cell adhesion molecules.
    • On the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane, there are two dense structures called the Outer Dense Plaque (ODP) and the Inner Dense Plaque (IDP).
    • A desmosome, also known as macula adherens (Latin: adhering spot), is a cell structure specialized for cell-to-cell adhesion in animal cells.
    • A type of junctional complex, they are localized spot-like adhesions randomly arranged on the lateral sides of plasma membranes.
  • Sodium Balance Regulation

    • Sodium is an important cation distributed primarily outside the cell .
    • The cell sodium concentration is about 15 mmol/l but varies in different organs and with an intracellular volume of 30 litres about 400 mmol are inside the cell.
    • A high plasma potassium also increases aldosterone secretion because besides retaining Na+ high plasma aldosterone causes K+ loss by the kidney.
    • Plasma Na+ levels have little effect on aldosterone secretion.
    • When aldosterone has been activated to retain sodium the plasma sodium tends to rise.
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