Question

You are looking at an immune response over the course of a systemic infection in mice. You would like to investigate just one organ at every timepoint. Which immune organ do you chose? Why?

Answer 1

I would choose spleen since it traps blood-borne antigens. Spleen contains lymphocytes and blood-borne antigens.

Spleen is a large, ovoid secondary lymphoid organ located high in the left abdominal cavity. It is the largest of the secondary lymphoid organs. It is highly efficient in trapping aand concentrating foreign substances carried in the blood. It is the major organ in the body in which antibodies are synthesized and from which they are released into circulation. It has two types of compartments- Red pulp and white pulp. Red pulp is the site where old and defective RBCs are destroyed and removed, whereas, white pulp forms PALS (periarteriolar lymphoid sheath) which are rich in T-cells. approximately 50% of spleen cells are B-lymphocytes; 30-40% are T-lymphocytes.