as we learned in previous videos white cells are a diverse group with many different functions in this video we'll dive deeper to understand the different types and their functions but before we do this let's quickly look at a few facts although white cells vary in size generally they are the largest cell type found circulating in the blood they live in the lymph system where many are stored they circulate in the blood blood and they are also found in the tissues throughout the body always ready to spring into action as a group all the different types of white cells together make up less than 1% of total blood volume some white cells live just 18 hours While others live for many years now let's take a closer look at the different types of void cells and the role each plays in protecting the body there are five major groups of lucaites basophils neutrophils asops monocytes and lymphocytes let's start with basophils these white cells defend against parasites and bacteria by releasing histamin and heparin Heparin is a blood thinning substance and histamines are what cause allergy symptoms basophils are not antigen specific meaning they don't have to determine what the invading substance is before taking action they spring into action anytime a foreign substance is detected next up let's look at neutrophils nutrifil are a group of white cells that Target bacteria and fungus they're the most plentiful white cell found in the blood they usually respond and multiply very quickly resulting in high white cell counts the third major group of white cells are eils which Target larger parasites such as worms asops also moderate allergy inflammation responses the fourth major group of white cells are lymphocytes which work the front lines to identify and Destroy foreign Invaders in this group there are three primary types of cells B cells t- cells and natural killer cells 75% of lymphocytes are te- cells 10% are B cells and 15% are natural killer cells B cells circulate on the front lines of our blood and lymph systems and they reside in tissues throughout the body B cells primarily function to identify foreign Invaders and are associated with antibodies which we'll learn more about in coming videos te- cells are white cells that actually mature in the thymus which is part of the lymph system when matured the te- cells migrate to the point of invasion te- cells then surround bind and help kill foreign Invaders te- cells also provide an essential regulatory function to ensure that the immune system is not overreacting or under reacting to any specific pathogen our fifth and final group of white cells are known as monocytes monocytes are unique in that they are partially differentiated white cells meaning they are not fully mature they are stored in the lymph system circulate in the blood and migrate to tissues throughout the body where they mature into one of two types of cells macrofagos or dendric white cells macrofagos ingest and break down both invading microbes as well as infected human cells while dendric white cells act like Messengers taking the broken down antigen material and then presenting it to other white cells typically B cells which will identify the antigen and then trigger a chain reaction that helps activate t- cells monocytes are also involved in the production of cyto protein molecules which carry signals between cells there are many types of cyto one example tied to monocytes is histamin which leads to an inflammatory response to an antigen in coming videos we'll get to see more about how these white cells work together