Know your immune cells: B lymphocytes! 😍

1. B cells can differentiate into memory B cells or plasma cells; the former provides long-term immunity, while the latter produces antibodies during an active infection

2. The human body can have up to 10 billion different B cells, ready to defend against a multitude of pathogens

3. The “B” in B cells comes from the Bursa of Fabricius, an organ in birds where they were first discovered; however, in humans, they mature in the bone marrow

4. Abnormal B cell function can lead to various hematological malignancies, including different types of lymphoma and leukemia

5. B cells undergo somatic hypermutation, which increases the diversity of antibodies they can produce. They also undergo class switching, changing the type of antibodies they produce to better suit the pathogen they are fighting

Picture credit: Blausen Medical, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://lnkd.in/d22ytM83>, via Wikimedia Commons