The Adaptive Immune System

Strategy of Adaptive
Immune Response

• First response to particular antigen called

primary response
– May take a week or more to develop
• Immune system remembers pathogen on
subsequent exposure
– Termed secondary response
• Adaptive immunity divided into
– Humoral immunity
• Eliminates extracellular pathogens
– Cellular immunity
• Eliminates intracellular pathogens
• Humoral immunity
– Mediated by B lymphocytes
• B cells
– Develops in bone marrow
– B cells may be triggered to proliferate into plasma
cells
• Plasma cells produce antibodies
– Antibodies produce when antigen bonds B cell
receptor
– Some B cells produce memory cells
• Cellular immunity
– Mediated by T lymphocytes
• T cells
– Matures in thymus
– Divided into 2 subsets
• Cytotoxic T cells
• Helper T cells
– T cell receptors help with antigen
recognition
 Lymphocytes Are the Cells of
The Adaptive Immune System

• B lymphocytes (cells):
– Naïve B cells – B cell receptor
– Memory B Cells – B cell receptor
– Plasma Cells – Ab secreting

• T lymphocytes (cells):
– T helper cells
– Cytotoxic T cells
– Naïve T cells
– Effector T cells
– Memory T cells
– T regulatory cell
Types of adaptive immunty
Classes of lymphocytes
 Lymphoid Organs

• Primary lymphoid organs:

– Bone marrow
– Thymus
• Secondary lymphoid organs:
– Lymph nodes, tonsils
– Spleen
– Mucosal-Associated Lymphoid Tissue
(MALT) – intestines, respiratory, genital
& urinary
 Anatomy of the Adaptive Immune System –
Lymph Nodes

• Function
– Filter particulates and
microbes
– Antigen presentation
• Components
– Cortex – B cell rich
– Paracortex – T cell rich
– Accessory cells
(macrophages, dendritic cells,
others) located in each
– Medulla - Macrophages
 Maturation & Differentiation of Lymphocytes
Pluropotent Bone marrow
stem cell
Lymphoid
Myeloid

Naïve Mature
Secondary lymphoid organ
T cell B cell
Activated
by antigen
Thymus Plasma cell Antibodies
(maturation)

Naïve Effector
Helper T Naïve &
cell CTL cell Memory
Cells
 Maturation of lymphocyte

Lymphocyte develope from precursors in the generative lymphoid organs

(the bone marrow and thymus). Mature lymphocyte enter the peripheral
organs, where they respon to foreign antigens and from where they
recirculate in the blood and lymph.
 Recognition, Activation and Attack
Recognition Antigen

Free Presented
B cell Helper T cell Cytotoxic T cell

Activation
Cytokines Cytokines

Plasma cell
Antibodies

Attack
Guide phagocytes,
Attack antigen-
complement, and NK cells
bearing cells
to free antigen and Ag-
bearing cells
Adaptive Immune System : Humoral Immunity

Humoral Immunity
• Selected B cells produce copious amounts of
antibodies that interact with antigens found
on pathogens.
• Needs the support of helper T cells.
 Adaptive Immune System: Humoral Immunity

• An antigen is any
material that
stimulates selected
B cells to produce
copious amounts of
antibodies.
• Antigens include
• An epitope is the part of an bacterial cell walls,
antigen to which the antibody viral parts, flagella,
attaches. An antigen can have etc.
more than one epitope or type of
epitope.
Adaptive Immune System: Different Epitopes on
Different Antigens

Different epitopes found on different types

of antigens.
Humoral Immunity: Selecting B cells

• Naïve B cell receptors are

different for each B cell.
• Antigens attach to a receptor site
on the B cell.
• Antigens are brought into the
cytoplasm of the B cell.
• Antigens attach to MHC II
proteins and are transported to
the cell membrane.
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 Humoral Immunity:
Cloning Selected B cells
• An activated helper T
cell makes a match
with MHC II/AG
complex.
• Helper T cell secretes
cytokines which causes
the B cell to reproduce
and making plasma B
cells and memory B
cells.
 Humoral Immunity:
Cloning Selected B cells
• For this particular
selected B cell,
thousands of B
plasma cells are
cloned. They are
identical to the
original B cell.
• Each plasma B cell
can synthesize 2,000
identical AB per
second.
This illustrates how out
of thousands of
different naïve B cells,
only the one with the
correct receptor site is
selected and cloned.
Antibodies Can Inactivate Antigens

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Opsonization and Inactivating an Antigen
Opsonization: Certain bacterial cells have so many AG determinants
that the antibodies coat the bacteria cell. The constant regions stick
out (called the FC region). The phagocytes have FC receptors. This
interaction allows the phagocyte to roll over the pathogen and
phagocytosis occurs.

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 Activation of B-Cells

B cell selection and activation of plasma cells.

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Specivity, and memory of immune
response
Phases of adaptive immune responses
Mechanisms of the decline of normal immune
responses (self limitation)
Presentation of antigen to helper T cell by an
antigen-presenting cell (APC)
 APC/ dendritic cell is the dirigent
of adaptive immune response

Pathogen

IL-4 IL-4
Recognition
Internalization Th2 IL-5
cell IL-10
TLR IL-13

Antigen
presentation

APC Naïve Tr1 IL-10

T cell cell TGF-
Co stimulation

IL-10 Th1 IFN-

cell TNF-
IL-12, IL-18