• Question: How do the plasma cells and memory B cells differentiate

    Asked by Wrichik1999 to Laura on 9 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Laura Garcia Ibanez

      Laura Garcia Ibanez answered on 9 Mar 2015:


      This process occurs n the secondary lymphoid organs such as spleen and lymph nodes. When the B cell “sees” an antigen there are two pathways that it can follow.
      The first one it’s called “extrafollicular pathway” and through this pathway loads of plasma cells are generated very quickly. This pathway provides a very rapid response within days.
      The second one it’s called “germinal centre pathway”. Germinal centres are structures that form in the follicles (B cell areas) of the secondary lymphoid organs and there through several rounds of mutation and selection high-affinity plasma cells (high quality) and memory B cells are generated.

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