IMMUNITY, CELL MEDIATED Immunity, cell mediated

The immune system is a network of cells and or ans that work to ether to !rotect the "ody from infectious or anisms# Many different ty!es of or anisms such as "acteria, $iruses, fun i, and !arasites are ca!a"le of enterin the human "ody and causin disease# It is the immune system%s &o" to reco ni'e these a ents as forei n and destroy them# The immune system can res!ond to the !resence of a forei n a ent in one of two ways# It can either !roduce solu( "le !roteins called anti"odies, which can "ind to the forei n a ent and mark them for destruction "y other cells# This ty!e of res!onse is called a humoral res!onse or an anti"ody res!onse# Alternately, the immune system can mount a cell( mediated immune res!onse# This in$ol$es the !roduction of s!ecial cells that can react with the forei n a ent# The reactin cell can either destroy the forei n a ents, or it can secrete chemical si nals that will acti$ate other cells to destroy the forei n a ent# Durin the )*+,s, it was disco$ered that different ty!es of cells mediate the two ma&or classes of immune res!onses# The T lym!hocytes, which are the main effectors of the cell( mediated res!onse, mature in the thymus, thus the name T cell# The - cells, which de$elo! in the adult "one marrow, are res!onsi"le for !roducin anti"odies# There are se$eral differ( ent ty!es of T cells !erformin different functions# These di$erse res!onses of the different T cells are collecti$ely called the .cell(mediated immune res!onses#/ There are se$eral ste!s in$ol$ed in the cell(mediated res!onse# The !atho en 0"acteria, $irus, fun i, or a !arasite1, or forei n a ent, enters the "ody throu h the "lood stream, dif( ferent tissues, or the res!iratory tract# 2nce inside the "ody, the forei n a ents are carried to the s!leen, lym!h nodes, or the mucus(associated lym!hoid tissue 0MALT1 where they will come in contact with s!eciali'ed cells known as anti en( !resentin cells 0A3C1# 4hen the forei n a ent encounters the anti en(!resentin cells, an immune res!onse is tri ered# These anti en !resentin cells di est the en ulfed material, and dis!lay it on their surface com!le5ed with certain other !roteins known as the Ma&or 6istocom!ati"ility Class 0M6C1 of !roteins# Ne5t, the T cells must reco ni'e the anti en# 7!eciali'ed rece!tors found on some T cells are ca!a"le of reco ni'in the M6C(anti en com!le5es as forei n and "ind( in to them# Each T cell has a different rece!tor in the cell mem"rane that is ca!a"le of "indin a s!ecific anti en# 2nce the T cell rece!tor "inds to the anti en, it is stimulated to di$ide and !roduce lar e amounts of identical cells that are s!ecific for that !articular forei n anti en# The T lym!hocytes also secrete $arious chemicals 0cytokines1 that can stimulate this !roliferation# The cytokines are also ca!a"le of am!lify( in the immune defense functions that can e$entually

destroy and remo$e the anti en# In cell(mediated immunity, a su"class of the T cells mature into cytoto5ic T cells that can kill cells ha$in the for( ei n anti en on their surface, such as $irus(infected cells, "ac( terial(infected cells, and tumor cells# Another su"class of T cells called hel!er T cells acti$ates the - cells to !roduce anti"odies that can react with the ori inal anti en# A third rou! of T cells called the su!!ressor T cells is res!onsi"le for re ulatin the immune res!onse "y turnin it on only in res!onse to an anti en and turnin it off once the anti en has "een remo$ed# 7ome of the - and T lym!hocytes "ecome .memory cells,/ that are ca!a"le of remem"erin the ori inal anti en# If that same anti en enters the "ody a ain while the memory cells are !resent, the res!onse a ainst it will "e ra!id and hei htened# This is the reason the "ody de$elo!s !ermanent immunity to an infectious disease after "ein e5!osed to it# This is also the !rinci!le "ehind immuni'ation# 7ee also Anti"ody and anti en8 Anti"ody(anti en, "iochemi( cal and molecular reactions8 Anti"ody formation and kinetics8 Anti"ody, monoclonal8 Anti enic mimicry8 Immune stimula( tion, as a $accine8 Immune syna!se8 Immune system8 Immunity, acti$e, !assi$e and delayed8 Immunity, humoral re ulation8 Immuni'ation8 Immunochemistry

IMMUNITY, 6UM29AL 9E:ULATI2N Immunity, humoral re ulation

2ne way in which the immune system res!onds to !atho ens is "y !roducin solu"le !roteins called anti"odies# This is known as the humoral res!onse and in$ol$es the acti$ation of a s!ecial set of cells known as the lym!hocytes, "ecause they ori inate in the "one marrow# The humoral immune res!onse hel!s in the control and remo$al of !atho ens such as "acteria, $iruses, fun i, and !arasites "efore they enter host cells# The anti"odies !roduced "y the - cells are the mediators of this res!onse# The anti"odies form a family of !lasma !roteins referred to as immuno lo"ulins# They !erform two ma&or functions# 2ne function of an anti"ody is to "ind s!ecifically to the molecules of the forei n a ent that tri ered the immune res!onse# A second anti"ody function is to attract other cells and molecules to destroy the !atho en after the anti"ody molecule is "ound to it# 4hen a forei n a ent enters the "ody, it is en ulfed "y the anti en( !resentin cells, or the - cells# The - cell that has a rece!tor 0surface immuno lo"ulin1 on its mem"rane that corres!onds to the sha!e of the anti en "inds to it and en ulfs it# 4ithin the - cell, the anti en(anti"ody !air is !artially di ested, "ound to a s!ecial class of !roteins called M6C(II, and then dis!layed on the surface of the cell# The hel!er T cells reco ni'e the !atho en "ound to the M6C(II

!rotein as forei n and "ecomes acti$ated# These stimulated T cells then release certain chemicals known as cytokines 0or lym!hokines1 that act u!on the !rimed - cells 0- cells that ha$e already seen the anti en1# The - cells are induced to !roliferate and !roduce se$eral identical cells ca!a"le of !roducin the same anti"ody# The cytokines also si nal the - cells to mature into anti"ody !roducin cells# The acti$ated - cells first de$elo! into lym!ho"lasts and then "ecome !lasma cells, which are essentially anti"ody !roduc( in factories# A su"class of - cells does not differentiate into !lasma cells# Instead, they "ecome memory cells that are ca!a"le of !roducin anti"odies at a low rate# These cells remain in the immune system for a lon time, so that the "ody can res!ond ;uickly if it encounters the same anti en a ain# The anti"ody destroys the !atho en in three different ways# In neutrali'ation, the anti"odies "ind to the "acteria or to5in and !re$ent it from "indin and ainin entry to a host cell# Neutrali'ation leads to a second !rocess called o!soni'a( tion# 2nce the anti"ody is "ound to the !atho en, certain other cells called macro!ha es en ulf these cells and destroy them# This !rocess is called !ha ocytosis# Alternately, the immuno lo"ulin I M or I : can "ind to the surface of the !atho en and acti$ate a class of serum !roteins called the com!lement, which can cause lysis of the cells "earin that !articular anti en# In the humoral immune res!onse, each - cell !roduces a distinct anti"ody molecule# There are o$er a million differ( ent - lym!hocytes in each indi$idual, which are ca!a"le of reco ni'in a corres!ondin million different anti ens# 7ince each anti"ody molecule is com!osed of two different !roteins 0the li ht chain and the hea$y chain1, it can "ind two different anti ens at the same time#

1. 7ee also Anti"ody and anti en8 Anti"ody(anti en, "iochemi( cal
and molecular reactions8 Anti"ody formation and kinetics8 Immune system8 Immunity, acti$e, !assi$e and delayed8 Immunity, cell mediated