Final answer:
Many identical plasma cells are necessary for the body's effective humoral immune response, with each plasma cell acting as an antibody factory to produce significant quantities of specific antibodies for pathogen destruction and memory B cell formulation for long-term immunity.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is important that many identical plasma cells are produced because these cells are essential in the body's humoral immune response. Once a B cell is activated, it undergoes clonal proliferation, where it divides to produce many identical daughter cells that differentiate into plasma cells. These plasma cells act as antibody factories, each capable of secreting up to 100 million antibody molecules per hour, which bind specifically to antigens, leading to the destruction of the pathogen carrying the antigen.
Having a large number of plasma cells is critical because it ensures a sufficient amount of antibodies to effectively combat an infection. These antibodies circulate throughout the body in the blood and lymph, forming antigen-antibody complexes that flag pathogenic cells for destruction by phagocytosis. Furthermore, some of the daughter cells become memory B cells, which are crucial for a quick and robust response upon subsequent exposure to the same pathogen.
Differentiated plasma cells migrate back to the bone marrow after their differentiation in secondary lymphoid organs, contributing to humoral immunity by secreting antibodies specific to the antigens they encountered. After a period of intense antibody production, these cells die, as their energy is primarily devoted to antibody production rather than self-maintenance, rendering them terminally differentiated. This process illustrates the body's capability to target specific pathogens with precision and initiate a long-term protective response through memory B cells.