Adaptive immunity Flashcards
How is adaptive immunity initiated?
Dendritic cells pick up pathogens near site of infection and digest the pathogen proteins into short peptide fragments.
Dendritic cells migrate from site of infection to local draining lymph nodes where they present the pathogen derived peptides on their surface in association with Major Histocompatibility Complexes (MHC molecules) to lymphocytes.
What is immunological memory?
Long lived memory B and T cells can respond in much greater numbers earlier on after exposure to a pathogen. Thus the antigen-specific cells can be recruited faster and respond with more vigour to re-exposure with the same antigens.
What is the difference between B cells and T cells in terms of the type of immunity they provide?
B cell - humoral immunity, protection against extracellular pathogens
T cell - cell-mediated immunity, protection against intracellular pathogens
