Humoral immunity or B cell mediated immunity

This involves the production of antibody molecules in response to an antigen and is

mediated by B-lymphocytes.

If the B cell comes into contact with the antigen, the B cell becomes activated. When
an antigen binds to a BCR, it is engulfed into the B cell by receptor-mediated
endocytosis. Once inside the B cell, the antigen is digested into fragments.
A vast number of B-cells are produced each with a different antigen binding specificity.
If the B-cell comes into contact with the specific type of antigen to which it is targeted,
it divides rapidly to form a clone of identical cells.

Q: Explain why clonal expansion takes place even though the pathogen has been
destroyed by the B cell.

Thus, each immature lymphocyte undergoes clonal expansion following recognition

and activation by their antigen. Clonal expansion is when upon activation, a single
lymphocyte divides to produce many identical progeny responding to a single antigen,
known as clones. In the case of B cells, all clones produce identical antibodies
resulting in the antibody response to an antigen.
Clonal expansion allows a single lymphocyte to produce the majority of lymphocytes
that respond specifically to a pathogen, this is important to disease control.

Plasma cells are the final stage of development of B cells which have recognised
antigen and been stimulated by T cell derived cytokines.

These plasma cells remain in the spleen and lymph nodes and secrete the antibodies
found in the circulation. Antibody, therefore, is secreted in response to antigen. The
first time the antigen is encountered by a B cell, the antibody response is called the
primary response. The level of antibodies in the blood take a few days to increase.
The level of antibodies in the blood rises slowly and declines quickly in the primary
response.

At the same time the B cells are being stimulated to become antibody secreting cells,
some of the B cells recognising the antigen mature into B memory cells. This memory
allows the secondary response to be much faster than the primary response. As well
as being quicker, the secondary response is much greater than the primary response.
The secondary response is also more efficient due to a process of affinity maturation.

Q: What is meant by affinity maturation?

The secondary response is dependent on a population of long-lived B memory cells.

These cells are generated in lymphoid tissue after B cell activation and proliferation
and reside in the bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen. They express high affinity
surface immunoglobulins which enable them to be activated by lower levels of antigen
than immature B cells.

Each B cell is programmed to make one specific antibody. When a B cell encounters
its triggering antigen (along with various accessory cells), it gives rise to many large
plasma cells. Each plasma cell is essentially a factory for producing that one specific
antibody.
The humoral immune response is shown below:
Humoral immunity continued ……………………
 T cells

T cells contribute to the immune defenses in two major ways. Some help regulate the
complex workings of the immune system, while others are cytotoxic and directly
contact infected cells and destroy them. Most of the T cells in the body belong to one
of two subsets. These are distinguished by the presence on their surface of one or the
other of two glycoproteins:

CD4

CD8

Which of these molecules is present determines what types of cells the T cell can bind
to. The cells with a CD4 marker are called helper T cells (also called the Th cells).
The CD8 positive cells that develop are cytotoxic T cells (also called Tc cells).
Th and Tc cells both have a TCR, but they carry out very different functions in the
immune system.

T Helper cells
T Killer cells
T suppressor cells
The principles of T-cell mediated immunity is shown below:
Cell mediated Immunity continued ………………
Developing immunity
Primary & Secondary Immune Responses
 Antibody
Antibodies are immune system-related proteins called immunoglobulins. Each
antibody consists of four polypeptides, two of which are heavy chains and two are light
chains. The four chains are joined to form a "Y" shaped molecule. A diagram of an
antibody molecule is shown below:
Looking at your drawing of the antibody you will notice that there are two distinct
regions – the constant region and the variable region. Both regions are made up of
the light and heavy chains. The variable region includes the ends of the light and
heavy chains.
Functions of Antibodies
 Specific & Non-specific responses
Specific Immune Responses =

Non-specific Immune Responses =

Non-specific Immune responses

When pathogens enter the body, there are some in-direct responses which help to
destroy the pathogen. Such responses are known as non-specific since they
will……………………………………………………………………… Examples of such
responses include the following:

Inflammation
An inflammatory response at the site of a cut helps to destroy any microbes that may
have entered. This occurs in the following stages:
Lysozyme

This is an enzyme which kills bacteria by breaking down cell walls and is usually found
in tears, saliva, nasal secretions.

Interferon

These are produced by virus-infected cells. Interferons diffuse into surrounding cells
and prevent viruses from multiplying by inhibiting viral protein synthesis.

Phagocytosis

This is the engulfing of bacteria and other foreign material by neutrophils and
macrophages (as we have seen before). This happens both at the site of infection
and at the lymph nodes (where it is mainly macrophages that engulf).
If phagocytosis does not occur septic shock occurs.