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Definition
| the ability to respond to foreign substances including molecules and microbes |
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| The specific molecules, cells, tissues and organs that function to provide protection from foreign substances |
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| the bodies response to a foreign substance involving cells and molecules of the immune system reacting with the substance to render it harmless |
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| two components of the immune system |
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Definition
| the innate and adaptive immune systems |
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Term
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Definition
is the first line of defense
Is present from birth
Consists of non-specific components available before any insult
Halts or slows invaders while the adaptive system is generated or up regulated
Utilizes preformed effector molecules to recognize broad structural motifs highly conserved within microbial species |
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Term
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Definition
The adaptive immune system is also called the acquired immune system
It is specific in nature, meaning that it recognizes foreign substances, called antigens, via receptors for them on lymphocytes
There are two kinds of lymphocytes, B lymphocytes or B cells and T lymphocytes or T cells |
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Term
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Definition
B lymphocytes or B cells have surface immunoglobulins that act as antigen receptors
When antigen reacts with the B cell immunoglobulin, the B cell differentiates into a plasma cell
The plasma cell secretes the immunoglobulin molecules or antibodies into the cells environment
B cells, plasma cells and antibodies make up the humoral immune response |
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Term
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Definition
T lymphocytes or T cells have a surface receptor similar to the immunoglobulin on B cells
The T cell receptor (TCR) is NOT secreted
T cell activation requires antigen presenting cells (APCs)
APCs have surface molecules called human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) that are coded for by a gene region known as the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC)
These cells and their molecules form a pathway for presentation and recognition of antigens and form the cellular immune response |
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| Specificity of Adaptive Response by Lymphocyte Receptors |
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Definition
The generation of antigen binding specificity of T and B cells occurs before antigen exposure through DNA rearrangement
Receptors of high diversity and binding potential are created to react with virtually all antigens
Before our lymphocytes see specific antigens, they have the ability to react with them because of their ability to rearrange their DNA. |
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Definition
There are small numbers of B cells or T cells that express the same antigen receptor.
When reacted with its specific antigen, B or T cells undergo activation, proliferation and differentiation
This process is called clonal selection since a small number of cells programmed to react with a specific antigen, react with the antigen and then multiply producing large clones of cells that also react with that antigen. |
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| absence of one or more elements of the immune system, congenital or acquired during life |
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| an immune response detrimental to the host, |
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