Question

Draw a flow chart of the steps that would be employed by a neutrophil to eliminate a bacterial cell. Assume that no antibodies are present that recognize the bacteria as foreign.

Answer 1

Answer-

Introduction-

There are three types of blood cells - RBCs, WBCs and platelets.

The White Blood Cells play a role in the defense mechanism in our body. They fight against the infections.

WBCs are classified as - Granulocytes and Agranulocytes.

1. Granulocytes- Neutrophils, Eosinophils and Basophils.

2. Agranulocytes- Monocytes and Lymphocytes.

Monocytes and Neutrophils fight against pathogenic microorganisms.

They destroy (kill) the microorganisms through phagocytosis.

The mechanism of action of neutrophils is discussed below:-

Bacteria enters the body and causes infection------------- The infected tissues release a chemical substance called as chemoattractants ----------- Large number of neutrophils are released at the site of infection-------- chemoattractants attract the neutrophils towards the site of infection ( chemotaxis) ------------ Neutrophils move towards the bacteria by diapedesis----------- Neutrophils become more sticky and attach firmly to the infected tissues ----------- neutrophils form a cytoplasmic extension all around the bacteria ( pseudopodium) -------- As a result, bacteria is engulfed inside the cytoplasm of the neutrophil----------- large vacoule containing the bacteria ( phagosome) is formed------- Primary lysosome fuses with the phagosome--------- secondary lysosome containing the hydrolytic enzymes is formed-------- these hydrolytic enzymes digest the contents of phagosome( bacteria).