Lymphocytic progenitor cells originate in bone marrow. B-lymphocytes continue development in bone marrow, before migrating to other lymph organs such as lymph nodes, spleen or tonsils. T-lymphocytes continue their development in the thymus, and may also then migrate to other lymph tissues.
Lymphocytes split off to their own line of stem cells quite early in development, thus the lymphocytes are considered a separate line from the entire collection of myeloid cells (erythrocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils).
The first cell that is morphologically recognizable as being distinct to the lymphoid line is the lymphoblast. Lymphoblasts can divide 2-3 times to form prolymphocytes. Prolymphocytes will mature into B- or T- lymphocytes in bone marrow or thymus, respectively. Information about mature lymphocytes can be found here.
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| Stem Cell | Lymphoblast | Prolymphocyte |
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Robert McLay
