Here's why:
* Germinal centers are specialized structures within secondary lymphoid organs (like lymph nodes and spleen) where B cells undergo rapid proliferation and differentiation following antigen exposure.
* Centroblasts are large, actively dividing B cells that are the primary cell type found in the dark zone of the germinal center. They are responsible for rapid clonal expansion of B cells specific to the antigen.
* Centrocytes are smaller, non-dividing B cells that are found in the light zone. They have undergone somatic hypermutation and class switching and are undergoing selection based on their ability to bind antigen with high affinity.
While centrocytes are also present in germinal centers, their number is significantly lower than centroblasts, particularly during the early stages of germinal center formation.
