Compare and contrast T-cell development with B-cell development

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Introduction
The developmental routes for these cells are very complex and unique but there are similarities. B-cells produce antibodies to bind onto foreign bodies that have invaded the host organism; this allows cells such as cytotoxic T-cells will then destroy the infected cell/structure. On the other hand, T-cells such as T-helper cells that secrete cytokines to control immune responses and cytotoxic T-cells that destroy pathogenic cells and structures.

B-Cells
B-cells develop from pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to lymphoid progenitor cells in the bone marrow. These stem cells have become Pro-B cells when they have begun to express B-cell marker proteins such as CD34 and rearrange the genes that code for the heavy chains in its B-Cell Receptor (BCR). In the next stage of development, Pro-B cells will become Pre-B cells. The transition to Pre-B cells involves the expression of the μ heavy chain on the cell surface. “The RNA transcript is spliced to produce the mRNA”[1] to synthesize the μ chain and express it on the surface of the cell in the Pro-B cell to Pre-B cell stage. Now the Pre-B cell can develop into an immature B-cell. Light chains of the BCR need to be expressed before the cell can be called an immature B-cell. Once this is complete, an immature B-cell has been produced.

Immature B-cells play a vital role in the prevention of autoimmunity. If immature B-cells happen to be self-reactive, autoimmunity can arise. These cells would be killed as soon as they come into contact with a self-antigen, as they are so self-reactive. Cells will abnormally high self-reactivity are killed via apoptosis before they can enter the general cell population, this is where ~90% of produced cells are lost before ...

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...Janeway, C. 2009. The immune system. 3rd ed. London: Garland Science.
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3. Kuby, J., Goldsby, R. A., Kindt, T. J. and Osborne, B. A. 2007. Immunology. New York: Freeman.
4. Starr, T. K., Jameson, S. C. and Hogquist, K. A. 2003. Positive and negative selection of T cells. Annual review of immunology, 21 (1), pp. 139--176.
5. Janeway, C. 2001. Immunobiology. New York: Garland Pub.
6. Maria Hinterberger, Martin Aichinger, Olivia Prazeres da Costa, David Voehringer, Reinhard Hoffmann & Ludger Klein (2010) 'Autonomous role of medullary thymic epithelial cells in central CD4+ T cell tolerance', Nature Immunology, (), pp. .
7. Kuby, J., Goldsby, R. A., Kindt, T. J. and Osborne, B. A. 2007. Immunology. New York: Freeman.

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