27.3 Adaptive immunity

Introduction

An immune system of enormous complexity is present in all vertebrate animals. When we place a population of lymphocytes from such an animal in appropriate tissue culture fluid, and when we add an antigen, the lymphocytes will produce specific antibody molecules, in the absense of any nerve cells. I find it astonishing that the immune system embodies a degree of complexity which suggests some more or less superficial though striking analogies with human language, and that this cognitive system has evolved and functions without assistance of the brain.

The adaptive, or acquired, immune response takes days or even weeks to become established—much longer than the innate response; however, adaptive immunity is more specific to an invading pathogen. Adaptive immunity is an immunity that occurs after exposure to an antigen either from a pathogen or a vaccination. An antigen is a molecule that stimulates a response in the immune system. This part of the immune system is activated when the innate immune response is insufficient to control an infection. In fact, without information from the innate immune system, the adaptive response could not be mobilized. There are two types of adaptive responses: the cell-mediated immune response , which is controlled by activated T cells , and the humoral immune response , which is controlled by activated B cells and antibodies. Activated T and B cells, which specifically bind to molecules from the invading pathogen, attack the pathogen specifically. These cells can kill pathogens directly, or they can secrete antibodies that enhance the phagocytosis of pathogens and disrupt the infection. Adaptive immunity also involves a memory to give the host long-term protection from reinfection with the same type of pathogen; on reexposure, this host memory will facilitate a rapid and powerful response.

B and t cells

Lymphocytes, which are white blood cells, are formed with other blood cells in the red bone marrow. The two types of lymphocytes of the adaptive immune response are B and T cells ( [link] ). Whether an immature lymphocyte becomes a B cell or T cell depends on where in the body it matures. The B cells remain in the bone marrow to mature (hence the name “B” for “bone marrow”), while T cells migrate to the thymus, where they mature (hence the name “T” for “thymus”).

Maturation of a B or T cell involves becoming immunocompetent, meaning that it can recognize, by binding, a specific molecule or antigen (discussed below). During the maturation process, B and T cells that bind too strongly to the body’s own cells are eliminated in order to minimize an immune response against the body’s own tissues. Those cells that react weakly or not at all to the body’s own cells, but have highly specific receptors on their cell surfaces that allow them to recognize a foreign molecule, or antigen, remain. This process occurs during fetal development and continues throughout life. The specificity of this receptor is determined by the genetics of the individual and is present before a foreign molecule is introduced to the body or encountered. Thus, it is genetics and not experience that initially provides a vast array of cells, each capable of binding to a different specific foreign molecule. Once they are immunocompetent, the T and B cells will migrate to the spleen and lymph nodes where they will remain until they are called on during an infection. B cells are involved in the humoral immune response, which targets pathogens found in blood and lymph, and T cells are involved in the cell-mediated immune response, which targets infected body cells.