title: Human T and B lymphoid cells: an electron microscopic study on thymocytes, peripheral blood lymphocytes, mitogen-stimulated cells and lymphoid cell lines.
abstract: Human lymphoid cells were studied by electron microscopy to find any morphological difference between T and B cells. The T cell population generally contains a smaller amount of the rough endoplasmic reticulum than the B cell in various functional states, i.e. peripheral blood lymphocytes of normal individuals, mitogen-stimulated lymphoblasts and lymphoid cell lines. This may depend on greater need of the rough endoplasmic reticulum for immunoglobulin synthesis in B cells, even though T cells produced some soluble mediators. Other differences between T and B cells are as follows: (1) Peripheral blood T lymphocytes often have clustered dense granules, while granules containing parallel tubular structures are more frequently seen in B lymphocytes. (2) Cultured T cell lines usually exhibit a higher nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio and less prominent nucleoli than B cell lines.
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002460:Cell Line; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008934:Mitogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D012397:Rosette Formation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D008934:Mitogens