By the time the adaptive immune system gets involved in fighting an infection, the innate immune system and the antigen presenting cells have already been active for quite some time! But with the antibody-mediated (otherwise known as humoral immunity) and cell-mediated adaptive defences engaged, the battle is often quickly won and the infection resolved. It is the remarkable ability of our B and T lymphocytes, the cells which make up our adaptive immune response, to unambiguously recognise the pathogen and to select the most suitable weapon to eliminate it, that makes the adaptive immune system so powerful! In addition the adaptive immune cells do not quickly forget a face and develop an immunological memory that protects us from re-infection.
In this module we will get to know the B and the T lymphocyte and learn how they develop to recognise pathogens with such specificity and how they know to launch the most effective immune response to win us the battle against pathogens.
| Aims: |
|---|
| To help you understand how we can have adaptive immune cells specific for anything and everything, i.e. how TCR and Ig generation correlates with specificity and diversity. |
| To introduce the concept of immunological tolerance, which prevents our adaptive immune system from reacting to our own (self) as well as harmless foreign antigens. |
| To introduce the lymphocyte life cycle, cellular activation and the responses that different populations mount. |
| Learning Outcomes: |
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| Describe T and B cell specificity and diversity and relate these concepts to the genetic events taking place during TCR and Ig generation. |
| Describe the relationship between different stages in the lymphocyte life cycle. |
| Describe different mechanism associated with keeping immunological tolerance. |
| Predict how different tissue environments could affect the subsequent T cell cytokine profile or B cell antibody isotype. |
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to:
- The Adaptive Immunology Authors: Angelica Cazaly (curriculum designer), Judith Holloway (Programme director/curriculum designer)
- The Editor: Angelica Cazaly
- The eLearning Team: Sunhea Choi, Matthew Hammerton and Mimi Lee