Plasma cells Flashcards
Where are B cells derived from?
Bone marrow
- pluripotent haemopoietic stem cells
B cells form part of the innate/adaptive immune system?
Adaptive
What are the 2 main roles of B cells
Antibody production
Act as APCs
What are Ig’s ?
Antibodies produced by B cells
Name a Ig dimer
IgA
Name a Ig Pentamer
IgM
Name 3 Ig Monomers
IgD, IgE, IgG
The variable element of Ig is generated from?
V-D-J region recombination
Immature B cells with Ig on their surface do what?
Exit the bone marrow ready to meet their target
Once a B cell has left the bone marrow and is now in the periphery, where does it travel to
The follicle germinal centre of the lymph node as this is where it identifies an antigen
B cells can mature as ____ cells or may circulate as ______ cells
Mature as plasma cells
Circulate as Memory B cells
Each Ig is named after the type of heavy/light chain it has?
Heavy
Plasma cell - function
Pumps out antibody
Plasma cell - histological appearance
Clock face nucleus on H+E
Plentiful blue cytoplasm
Pale perinuclear area
Normally, the B cell and plasma cell repertoire will have several clones contributing to make antibodies of different specificity. Ie polyclonal. True or false?
True
In plasma cell dyscarias, there is monoclonal/polyclonal production of antibodies?
Monoclonal
- one clone develops a fault, expands and takes over
- all derived from clonal expression of a single B cell
What is a monoclonal immunoglobulin known as?
Paraprotein
What is paraprotein
Monoclonal Ig.
It is a marker of underlying clonal B-cell disorder.
What investigation allows you to detect Ig
Serum electrophoresis
Serum electrophoresis - explanation
Separated serum proteins appear as distinct bands or zones as proteins move at different rates determined by their size and charge.
Electrophpresis can detect abnormal protein bands
Once you find an abnormal protein band (via serum electrophoresis), what investigation allows you to classify the abnormal protein band?
Serum immunofixation
Where is bence jones protein found?
Urine
How is bence jones protein detected?
Urine electrophoresis
What is bence jones protein?
Excess light chain production by plasma cells during Ig synthesis. The excess light chains are found in the urine
Free light chain production by normal plasma cells is ___ / day
0.5g
Bence jones proteins can cause damage to which organ?
Kidneys