White Blood Cells

WhiteBloodCells Wheneveragermorinfectionentersthebody,thewhitebloodcell Wheneveragermorinfectionentersthebody ,thewhitebloodcellssnaptoattentionand ssnaptoattentionand racetowardthesceneofthecrime.Thewhiteblood racetowardthesceneofthecrime .Thewhitebloodcellsarecontinual cellsarecontinuallyonthelookout lyonthelookout forsignsofdisease.Whenagermdoesappe forsignsofdisease.W henagermdoesappear,thewhitebloodcell ar,thewhitebloodcellshaveavarietyof shaveavarietyof waysbywhichtheycanattack.Somewil waysbywhichtheycanattack.Somewillproduceprotectiveantibodi lproduceprotectiveantibodiesthatwill esthatwill overpowerthegerm.Otherswillsurroundanddevourthebacteria. Thewhitebloodcellshavearathershortlifec Thewhitebloodcellshavearathershortlifecycle,livingfromafewdays ycle,livingfromafewdaystoafewweeks. toafewweeks.  Adropofbloodcancontainanywherefrom7,  Adropofbloodcancon tainanywherefrom7,000to25,000whitebloodc 000to25,000whitebloodcellsatatime.If ellsatatime.If aninvadinginfectionfightsbackandpersi aninvadinginfectionfightsbackandpersists,thatnumberwil sts,thatnumberwillsignificantly lsignificantlyincrease. increase.  Aconsistentlyhighnumberofwhitebloodc  Aconsistentlyhighnumberofwhitebloodcellsisas ellsisasymptomofLeukaemia,acancerof ymptomofLeukaemia,acancerof theblood.ALeukaemiapatientmayhaveasmany theblood.ALeukaemiapatientm ayhaveasmanyas50,000whiteblood as50,000whitebloodcellsinas cellsinasingle ingle dropofblood.  Adaptations 









Theyhaveaflexiblecellmembranewhic Theyhaveaflexiblecellmembranewhichmeanstheycansqueezethroug hmeanstheycansqueezethroughsmall hsmall gapsinthecapillariestotraveltowheretheyareneededinthebody. Theircytoplasmcontainsenzymes.Thi Theircytoplasmcontainsenzymes.Thismeansthatoncea smeansthatonceamicro-organismis micro-organismis ingestedbythecell,itwillbedigestedbytheseenzymes. Thecellmembranehasasensitivesu Thecellmembranehas asensitivesurfacetoenablethecel rfacetoenablethecelltodetectforeign ltodetectforeign bodiesanddestroy. Theyareadaptedbyhavingalargenucl Theyareadaptedbyhav ingalargenucleuswhichcontainsmanycopi euswhichcontainsmanycopiesofgenes esofgenes forthecontroloftheproductionofantibodies.  Adaptations-Irregularshape,theycanchangeshapetosqueezeoutofbl  Adaptations-Irregularshape,theycanchangesh apetosqueezeoutofblood ood vesselsandgettothesiteofinfection.Othersha vesselsandgettothes iteofinfection.Othershavecytoplasmwhichcanflow vecytoplasmwhichcanflow makingitpossibleforthecelltochange makingitpossibleforthecelltochangeshape,surroundandeng shape,surroundandengulfbacteria.Can ulfbacteria.Can increaseinnumberstofightdisease.

Basophils    

  

Basophilsareresponsibleforallergicandantigenrespons Basophilsareresponsibleforallergic andantigenresponses es Lessthan1%oftotalbloodcellcount Helpsbloodflowandpreventsbloodcongealing Circulatebloodstreamreleasingtwochemic Circulatebloodstream releasingtwochemicalsattissue alsattissuesitecalledhepa sitecalledheparinand rinand histamine Heparinpreventsbloodcellsfromclottingtooquickly Histaminearereleasedduringallergicreactio Histaminearereleaseddu ringallergicreactionstoincreaseblood nstoincreasebloodflow flow Thetwomoleculesworktogethertoincreaset Thetwomoleculeswo rktogethertoincreasetheavailabil heavailabilityofotherimmune ityofotherimmune systemcellsnearinflammationandinfection

Monocytes  

2to8%ofwhitebloodcells Startinbonemarrowdevelopintobigmacrophagesinthebloodstream

  

 

Macrophagesarethelargestwhitebloodcells Macrophagesareresponsibleforingestingcelldebris,wasteandharmfulbacteria Macrophagesattackmicrobesbyextendingpseudopodia(feetlikeextensions) aroundthecellsandthendestroythemicrobebyreleasingenzymesfrominside themacrophage.  Actasvacuumcleanersinoursystem Theyingestdeadcells,tissuedebrisandoldredbloodcells--anythingleftbehind afterthebodyhasbattledtheinfection. Lymphocytes



  



  

LymphocytesrefertoagroupofcellsmadeupofBcells,Tcellsandnaturalkiller (NK) 25to33%oftotalwhitebloodcells. BandTcellsareveryimportantforthebody’simmunesystem Bcellsareusedforproducingantibodiesagainstforeignparticles.Theyremember andspecificallybindtoforeignparticles Tcellsservemanyfunctionsbutareusuallyusedindestroyingcellsidentifiedby theantibodies NKcellsaren’tasspecificasTcellsbuttheystilldestroycells Thethreecellsworktogethertoridthebodyofharmfulparticles Thelymphocytecellisthecellmostresponsibleforprovidingyourbodywith immunity. Eosinophil

 

   

Dealswithparasiticinfections Iteosinophilcellcountinyourbloodishighitusuallymeansyouhaveaparasitic infection Theeosinophilcellfightstheinfectioncausedbytheparasite Cellresponsibleforreactingtoanysubstancethatcausesanallergicresponse Eosinophildevelopsinthebonemarrowbeforemigratingoutintothebloodstream. Eosinophilcombatsforeignparasitesandparticlesbyreleasingchemical mediatorsinaprocesscalleddegranulation.Duringdegranulation,smallgranules insidetheeosinophilarereleasedtodestroytheforeigninvaders.Theseharmful chemicalsarereactiveproteinssuchasperoxides,nucleasesandlipases. Neutrophils

 

    

Defendsagainstbacterialandfungalinfections Oncetheydiscoverinfection,theymoveoutofthebloodcellsandintotheinfected tissuetoattackit.Thepusyoudiscoveraftertreatingawound?Thatisaresultof theneutrophils. Theyconstantlycirculatethroughthebloodstream Non-specificimmunecell 55to70%ofwhitebloodcells Firstlineofdefenceagainstinvadingparticles Firstatthesiteofinfectionorinjury



 

Chemicalsignalsreleasedbydamagedcellsattractneutrophils,whichstickto bloodvesselwallsandengulfanyforeignparticlesbeforetheyenterthe bloodstream. Shortlifespan Self-destructafterengulfingharmfulantigens

Nucleus Thenucleusisthecontrolcentreofacell.Itcontainsthecell'shereditaryinformation (DNA)andcontrolsthecell'sgrowthandreproduction. Cytoplasm Thecytoplasmconsistsofallofthecontentsoutsideofthenucleusandenclosedwithin thecellmembraneofacell.Thisincludesthecytosolandineukaryoticcells,organelles suchasmitochondriaandribosomes.Alsolocatedwithinthecytoplasmisthe cytoskeleton,anetworkoffibresthathelpthecellmaintainitsshapeandgiveitsupport. Thecytoplasmisclearincolourandhasagel-likeappearance.Itiscomposedmainlyof waterandalsocontainsenzymes,salts,organelles,andvariousorganicmolecules.The cytoplasmhelpstomovematerialsaroundthecellandalsodissolvescellularwaste Mitochondria Mitochondriaarethecell'spowerproducers.Theyconvertenergyintoformsthatare usablebythecell.Locatedinthecytoplasm,theyarethesitesofcellularrespiration whichultimatelygeneratesfuelforthecell'sactivities.Mitochondriaarealsoinvolvedin othercellprocessessuchascelldivisionandgrowth,aswellascelldeath. Ribosomes RibosomesareorganellesthatconsistofRNAanproteins.Theyareresponsiblefor assemblingtheproteinsofthecell.Dependingontheproteinproductionlevelofa particularcell,ribosomesmaynumberinthemillions. Cellwall Thepurposeofthecellmembraneistoholdthecelltogether.Itkeepsallofthepieces, liketheorganellesandtheCYTOPLASM,inside.Themembranealsocontrolswhatgoes inandoutofthecell.

Vacuole

Vacuolesarewater-filledstoragespacesfoundincells.Theyarefoundinbothanimal andplantcells(buttheyaremorecommoninplantcellstheyarealsobiggerinplant cells).Vacuolesstorefood,collectwasteproducts,andcanhelpwithcellshapeand buoyancy.

Whatthecelllookslike Whitebloodcellstypicallylooklikeatexturedwhiteball.What'sreallyfascinating, though,isthattheycanactuallysprouttiny"legs"andcrawllikeamillipede!Whenan injuryoccurs,thecellshavetoreachthesitefast,andworkagainstbloodflow,sothese tiny"legs"allowthemtodojustthat.Whentheydothis,theylookalittlemorespreadout, ratherthanaballshape,andappeartohavetinyappendages