T cells

Figure 5: Schematic representation of the origin of T cells and their maturation. T: T cell. Myeloblastic stem cells in the bone marrow give rise to cells that eventually become thymocytes. These cells travel through the circulation to the thymus (or other areas of the lymphatic sytem) where they undergo a process of maturation to become T cells. During this process of maturation they gain the ability to recognise different peptides and cells that react with self are killed.

The T cells are the workhorse of the immune system. These cells originate from the myeloblastic stem cell in the bone marrow.