Republic of the Philippines

University of Northern Philippines

Tamag, Vigan City
2700 Ilocos Sur
College of Arts and Sciences

Name: Castillo, Marian Luna C.,

Halas, Rogen Chloe D.,

Saldivar, Jasmin L.

Course Year and Section: BS-Biology 4A

SYNTHESIS PAPER

T-cells which have completed their maturation leave the thymus and enter the blood stream
then the mature t-cells keep recirculating among blood, lymph and secondary lymphoid tissues such as
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lymph nodes. CD4 T cell and CD8 T cell these recirculating T cells have not encountered any
antigens yet. The cells that have not encountered any antigens yet are known as naïve cells. Therefore
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these recirculating T cells are naïve T cells that is naïve CD 4 T cell and naïve CD8 T cell.

When there is an infection in the body we know that macrophages and other antigen presenting
cells such as dendritic cells are present at the site of infection. When a dendritic cell engulf a pathogen
at the site of infection and migrate to lymph nodes where they present antigens to t-cells by a process
known as antigen processing and presentation. T cells recognize antigens in the surface of antigen
presenting cells and get activated. This activation of t-cells requires two signals.

Once activated, the T-cell undergo proliferation and differentiation in response to that antigen.
Proliferation means the cell divides several times an increase in number and differentiation is the
process by which highly specialized cells are formed. The resulting T-cells have now the ability to
recognize the same antigen as the original lymphocyte. These cells are known as effector cells. Effector
cells are cells which are capable of mediating an immune function which means they can mediate the
removal of antigens or cause of infection without the need for further differentiation.
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The effector T-cells have two types: effector CD 4 T cell and effector CD8 T cell. These
effector t-cells are so effective that they perform their function as soon as they encounter their specific
antigen on the cells. So as a result of t-cell activation and differentiation, a large population of t-cells
capable of responding to the antigen responsible for the infection is generated; besides these effector t-
cells, memory cells are also generated.
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There are two main types of effector t-cells: helper t-cells and cytotoxic t-cells. Effector CD 4 T
cell become helper t-cells the term helper reflects that these cells assist with the activation of other cells
in the immune response. Helper t-cells have several subsets, the main subsets are TH1 cells, TH2 cells,
TH17 cells, and regulatory t-cells. The main function of helper t-cell are regulation of activation of
antibody production of B-cells, activation and proliferation of cytotoxic t-cells, and activation of
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macrophages and natural killer cells. Effector CD 8 T cell becomes cytotoxic t-cells. These cells
recognize and kill infected cells; they are also known as T-lymphocyte abbreviated as CTLs or killer t-
cells. Effector t-cells are short-lived cells. 90% of these cells die by apoptosis, in few days or few weeks
but a population of activated t-cells also become memory t-cells, which are long-lived. Their main
function is to provide protection in case the pathogen attacks again in the future. If the same pathogen
or antigen enters the body again, memory cells can quickly proliferate and differentiate into more cells
that are active and more memory cells. These memory cells are faster in response.

Dendritic cells the key in antigen presenting cells of the immune system are generated from
progenitors in the bone marrows that migrate into peripheral tissues through the bloodstream. There
the immature dendritic cells lie in wait for pathogens entering the body through sites of injury for
example; dendritic cells express various pattern recognition receptors that can recognize common
features of many bacterial and fungal pathogens. Through these receptors they are able to bind to and
phagocyte pathogens. When these receptors bind pathogens they activate the dendritic cells which then
start to mature. In this process, they migrate from the tissues and change their behavior to stop
phagocytosis and to start expressing immune stimulatory molecules. The activated dendritic cells
migrate from the tissues into lymphatic vessels where lymphatic fluid drains through lymph nodes
carrying the dendritic cells with it.

T-cells migrating through the lymph nodes inspect the dendritic cells for the presence of
antigen. T-cells that fail to recognize antigen on one dendritic cell carry on to inspect other and
eventually return again to the circulation. T-cells that do recognize their specific antigen become
activated and both proliferate and differentiate into effector cells.