The naive B cell remains in Go phase (quiescence phase), produces antibody molecules that remain bound to its surface, and does not secrete antibodies. It will secrete antibodies only when it differentiates into a plasma cell, following its interaction with the specific antigen.
The lymphoid stem cells that migrate to thymus ultimately mature into T cells. During T cell maturation, rearrangement of the genes encoding T cell receptor (TCR) takes place.
There are four multigene families that encode α, β, γ and δ chains. Each TCR molecule is a heterodimer consisting of an α and a β chains or a γ and a δ chains. TCR has variable and constant domains, which is similar to the antibody molecule organization. In fact, many features of TCR gene organization, gene rearrangement, generation of diversity, allelic exclusion, TCR organization, etc. are similar to those of antibodies and their genes.
