Final answer:
Plasma cells are specialized cells that secrete large amounts of antibodies. They contain a lot of rough endoplasmic reticulum to support their intense protein synthesis. They are terminally differentiated, meaning they focus on antibody production until they die.
Step-by-step explanation:
Plasma cells are specialized antibody-secreting cells that originate from activated B cells in response to an antigen. Their primary function is to produce and secrete large amounts of antibodies, which are Y-shaped proteins that identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. These plasma cells can secrete millions of antibodies, each capable of binding to a specific antigen.
The production of antibodies is an energy-intensive process, and so plasma cells have a characteristic abundance of cytoplasm filled with rough endoplasmic reticulum, the cellular machinery responsible for protein synthesis. As antibody factories, plasma cells depend on this extensive network of rough endoplasmic reticulum to meet the high demands of antibody production.
After their differentiation from B cells, plasma cells operate as terminally differentiated cells. This means they invest most of their resources into the production of antibodies – up to 100 million molecules per hour – instead of maintaining themselves, leading to their eventual death after a certain period of prolific activity.