Blood Cell Maturation Study Notes (Questions and Answers)

Question 1

  • Answer: smaller
  • Rationale: As blood cells progress through maturation, they generally decrease in size; the nucleus becomes more condensed and the cytoplasm proportion changes as the cell differentiates.

Question 2

  • Answer: RNA in the cytoplasm; stains blue
  • Rationale: Immature cells have a high RNA content in the cytoplasm, which gives basophilic (blue) staining due to RNA-rich cytoplasm.

Question 3

  • Answer: thick and dense
  • Rationale: Nuclear chromatin in immature cells is less condensed; as cells mature, chromatin becomes more condensed and dense, reflecting advanced chromatin packaging.

Question 4

  • Answer: smaller
  • Rationale: Nuclear size decreases with maturation as chromatin condenses and the nucleus becomes smaller, often followed by nuclear extrusion in certain lineages (e.g., erythrocytes).

Question 5

  • Answer: immaturity
  • Rationale: Cytoplasmic features that indicate immaturity (such as basophilic cytoplasm due to RNA-rich cytoplasm) point to an immature cell stage.

Question 6

  • Answer: DNA; blue
  • Rationale: Immature cells have abundant DNA in their nuclear chromatin, which stains blue with standard Wright/Giemsa stains due to basophilia.

Question 7

  • Answer: nucleus; RNA; blue
  • Rationale: Nucleoli are located in the nucleus of very early cells; they are rich in RNA and stain blue with basophilic dyes.

Question 8

  • Answer: blue-purple
  • Rationale: As maturation progresses, nuclei degenerate and typically stain more blue-purple (darker) due to chromatin condensation and stain characteristics of mature cells.

Question 9

  • Answer: immature
  • Rationale: Mitosis is active in immature precursor cells; mature cells generally exit the cell cycle and do not undergo mitosis.

Question 10

  • Answer: maturity
  • Rationale: Phagocytosis is a function associated with mature phagocytic cells (e.g., monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils) and their differentiated functional capacity.

Question 11

  • Answer: nuclear maturation (chromatin pattern, nucleoli presence/absence)
  • Rationale: The most reliable criterion of cell maturity is the state of the nucleus—chromatin condensation and the presence or disappearance of nucleoli—reflecting maturation stage.

Question 12

  • Answer: red marrow (hematopoietically active marrow)
  • Rationale: Bone marrow capable of hematopoiesis is the red marrow, also referred to as active or hematopoietic marrow; it contains developing blood cells.

Question 13

  • Red blood cells: \ erythrocytes
  • White blood cells: \ leukocytes
  • Platelets: \ thrombocytes
  • Rationale: These are the formal names for the major blood cell components.

Question 14

  • Answer: buffy coat
  • Rationale: In a centrifuged anticoagulated blood sample, the layer containing white blood cells and platelets is called the buffy coat.

Question 15

  • Answer: serum
  • Rationale: The fluid portion of clotted blood is serum (plasma without clotting factors).