Platelets, once regarded simply as ”blood dust,” are now recognized to play essential roles in hemostasis. Not only do they form a hemostatic plug and initiate thrombus formation in the event of vascular injury, but they also repair minute vascular…
Granulocytopoiesis Granulocytes (neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils) are short-lived cells that are critical to both antimicrobial and inflammatory responses. The bone marrow (BM) produces granulocytes, particularly neutrophils, at a prodigious rate to supply the baseline need for circulating cells that survive…
The production of erythroid cells is a dynamic and exquisitely regulated process. The mature red cell is the final phase of a complex but orderly series of genetic events that is initiated when a multipotent stem cell commits to the…
Conventional modalities for treating cancer remain unsatisfactory. Despite the introduction of small molecules that target specific molecular lesions or pathways within the cancer cells, cure rates for many common tumors remain low, while adverse events are still distressingly high. Cancer…
T lymphocytes have the natural ability to destroy viral-infected or tumor target cells by a range of mechanisms that are initiated upon recognition of target peptides presented by histocompatibility antigens. Coupled with their ability to traffic through multiple tissues and…
Thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells) play an essential role in the immune response to pathogens and against host cells that have undergone malignant transformation. T cells are critical regulators of the immune system that act through production of soluble mediators and…
Complement and immunoglobulins represent the two major arms of humoral immunity and are discussed in detail in respective major subsections of this chapter. The complement section begins with a comprehensive overview of pathway activation, regulation, and effector mechanisms, followed by…
B lymphocytes are the subset of white blood cells specialized to synthesize and secrete immunoglobulin (Ig). Their name derives from the finding that the avian b ursa of Fabricius is a site of B-cell production. However, post-natal B-cell production in…
Natural killer (NK) cells are large, granular lymphocytes that comprise about 10% to 15% of the circulating peripheral blood lymphoctyes. These unique cells were first characterized by their ability to lyse targets independently of activating or initiating stimuli. NK cells…
Dendritic cells (DCs), originally discovered in 1973 by Ralph M. Steinman and Zanvil A. Cohn and named after their distinct stellate morphology, are important regulators of immune responses. Specialized in antigen acquisition, processing, and presentation, the hallmark of DCs is…