1: Introduction

Question 1

What is blood?

Answer 1

A type of tissue: cells suspended in a liquid called plasma

Question 2

What is the production of blood cells called?

Answer 2

Haemopoiesis

Question 3

What is haemopoiesis?

Answer 3

Production of blood cells

Question 4

What are all blood cells derived from?

Answer 4

Haematopoiesis stem cells

Question 5

Where does haemopoiesis occur in adults?

Answer 5

Bone marrow - axial skeleton only

Question 6

Where does haemopoiesis occur in infants?

Answer 6

Bone marrow - all bones

Spleen

Liver

Question 7

What are the functions of

a) RBCs
b) WBCs
c) platelets?

Answer 7

a) Oxygen transport; CO2 buffering

b) Protection against infection, malignancy

c) Prevention of bleeding

Question 8

Which type of stem cell differentiates to form blood cells?

Answer 8

Haemopoietic stem cells

Question 9

What three processes do haematopoietic stem cells undergo to produce blood?

Answer 9

Proliferation

Differentiation

Self-renewal of undifferentiated stem cells

Question 10

(Undifferentiated / Differentiated) stem cells are hard to tell apart.

Answer 10

undifferentiated

Question 11

Fully differentiated RBCs don’t have which organelles?

Answer 11

nucleus

mitochondria

Question 12

Which specific cell produces platelets?

Answer 12

Megakaryocyte

Question 13

Which three types of white blood cell come under the term granulocyte?

Answer 13

Eosinophil

Basophil

Neutrophil

named according to the dye they take up

Question 14

What are neutrophils also known as?

Answer 14

Polymorph

Question 15

What do neutrophils do?

Answer 15

Kill other cells with granules released during phagocytosis

Attract other immune cells

Question 16

What do neutrophils look like?

Answer 16

Neutral stain

Multilobar nucleus

Question 17

What do eosinophils look like?

Answer 17

Pink/red stain

Bilobar nucleus

Question 18

In which infections or diseases are eosinophils raised?

Answer 18

Parasitic infections

Hypersensitivity / allergic disease

Question 19

What do basophils look like?

Answer 19

Stain purple

Granules obscuring nucleus

Question 20

Which other immune cell are basophils similar to?

Answer 20

Mast cells

Circulating versions of mast cells, so they also degranulate (releasing histamine) in response to IgE

Question 21

What cell is a precursor to macrophages?

Answer 21

Monocyte

Question 22

Monocytes differentiate into which cell?

Answer 22

Macrophages

Question 23

What else can macrophages do once they’ve killed a cell by phagocytosis?

Answer 23

Antigen presentation

Question 24

What do lymphocytes look like when they are

a) inactivated
b) activated?

Answer 24

a) Small cell with rim of cytoplasm around nucleus
b) Large cell, spreading cytoplasm and nucleus

Question 25

The precursors of blood cells (including the stem cells) are hard to tell apart using a microscope.

Which techniques can be used to tell them apart?

Answer 25

Immunophenotyping

Bio-assays

Question 26

Which anatomical landmark are bone marrow samples commonly taken from?

Answer 26

PSIS

Question 27

What are the three broad constituents of blood?

What are their functions?

Answer 27

RBCs - oxygen transport

WBCs - protection against infection

Platelets - prevention of bleeding

Question 28

Which cells produce platelets?

Answer 28

Megakaryocytes

Question 29

Monocytes / macrophages act as ___-___ cells.

Answer 29

antigen-presenting cells

Question 30

What is immunophenotyping?

Answer 30

Telling cells apart based on the antigens they express on their cell membranes