Reading #3

I was not able to get through chapter 5 before midnight tonight, mainly due to a monster chem problem set i have due tomorrow, so I will just be posting on Chapter 4 tonight.

1. Chapter 4 deals with B cell development in great depth, describing the genetic steps taken to create the immunoglobin receptor on each B cell which will determine the B cells fate (incorporationn into the lymphatic system and blood vessels, self-antigen recognition and light chain rearrangement, self-antigen recognition and apoptosis).

2. I was (as usual) challenged by the large lexicon of genetic terms which the book draws from to describe the process of heavy and light chain development. I was also a bit confused with the mechanism which distinguishes between giving a B cell a second strike at not being a self antigen and at what point an auto-immune reacting B cell is marked for apoptosis.

3. I found myself particularly interested in the selection process of immature B cells. This part of the chapter didn't go as far in depth as I had hoped with the actual mechanism of B cell selection, so much as it just described what actions took place, but it was still interesting to see how B cells are screened through interaction with potential "self-antigens", and that they might be modified through light chain rearrangement for a second try at not reacting in an auto-immune fashion before they are sent to their death.