Immunology—A Brief Overview

Part 2

by Lúcia Mary Singer, Ph.D.

This series of articles comes with an English-Brazilian Portuguese downloadable glossary of terms
used in immunology with the English terms explained (in English) and translated into Portuguese. You
can download it now. The file size is 160K and the format is RTF (opens in most word processors).

What is Immunity?
Historically the term immunity has meant protection against
disease and more specifically, infectious diseases. The various cells
and proteins responsible for immunity constitute the immune
system, and their collective and orchestrated response to the
introduction of foreign substances (also called “non-self” substances)
is the immune response. Nowadays, we know that the same basic
mechanisms of resistance to infections are also involved in the
individual’s response to non-infectious foreign substances. Thus,
when an individual has a primary contact with a molecule or cell, the
immune system will first discriminate if this is a “self” or a “non-self”
agent. Under normal conditions, if this substance/cell is the same
found in the organism, the immune system will not react and we say
that the individual is tolerant to that agent. However, if the agent is
recognized as a “non-self” substance/cell it will trigger a specific
immune response, in addition to a non-specific one, in an attempt to
destroy it. These foreign substances that elicit a specific immune
response and react with the product of this response are generically
called antigens. The mechanisms that normally protect individuals
from infections and eliminate foreign substances are themselves
capable of causing tissue injury and disease (e.g., auto-immune
diseases, rejection of grafts, allergies) in some situations. Thus,
Immunology deals with understanding how the body distinguishes
between “self” and “non-self” molecules; the remainder is technical
detail...
Innate and Acquired Immunity
Vertebrates present two main types of immunity: innate (also known
as natural immunity) and acquired or adaptive immunity.
Innate immunity encompasses the cells and molecules with which
an individual is born and it is potentially ever-present, available on
short notice and non-specific; also, innate immunity is the first line
of defense against foreign cells or substances. The innate immune
system provides an immediate, non-lasting resistance which is not
improved by repeated infection.
Acquired immunity, on the other hand, is specific to the foreign
molecule or cell, thus being an adaptive response to a given “non-
self” substance and also presents memory (i.e., the immune system
“remembers” a previous encounter with a foreign microbe or
molecule, so that subsequent encounters increasingly stimulate
defense mechanisms). The immunological memory is the basis of
the protective vaccination against infectious diseases. For example,
infection or vaccination against smallpox, diphtheria or pertussis
produce a persistent immunity following infection or vaccination and
the development of “memory lymphocytes,” which in turn will induce
a more effective, long-lasting and stronger immune response after a
subsequent infection or vaccination.
The innate and specific immune systems consist of a variety of
molecules, cells and tissues.
The most important cells are the leukocytes which fall into two
broad categories: phagocytes (including macrophages and
neutrophyls) and natural killer cells, which belong to the innate
immune system, and lymphocytes (specially T lymphocytes), which
mediate the adaptive immunity.
The most important soluble factors that mediate the innate
immune response are: lysozyme, a complex of substances
generically called the complement system and the so called acute-
phase proteins (e.g., interferons and C-reactive protein). The main
soluble proteins responsible for the acquired immune response are
the antibodies.
If the first innate defenses are breached, the specific immune
mechanisms are activated and produce a specific reaction to each
infectious agent in an attempt to erradicate that agent. Also the
specific immune response amplifies the protective mechanisms of
natural immunity, thus reinforcing the body’s ability to eliminate the
antigenic molecules.

Innate immunity
Most infectious agents encountered by an individual are prevented
from entering the body surface by a variety of physical and
biochemical barriers, such as the intact skin, mucus, cilia lining the
trachea, acidity of the stomach, lysozyme (a protein present in
saliva and most secretions which is able to split a bond of some
bacterial cell walls) and commensal organisms in the vagina and
guts.
If an infectious agent penetrates an epithelial surface, it will meet
a second set of barriers: the phagocytes and the natural killer (NK)
cells. Phagocytes are able to engulf particles, including many
bacteria and fungi species, and destroy them, a process called
phagocytosis. The main phagocytic cells are the neutrophyls, the
monocytes and the macrophages. NK cells are also leukocytes,
which are able to recognize cell surface changes that occur in
tumoral cells and in virus infected cells. NK cells are then able to
bind to those altered cells and kill them. This type of reaction in
which a lymphocyte kills a target cell is called cytotoxicity.
In addition to the phagocytic and NK cells, soluble substances also
operate in a coordinated way, to erradicate the infectious agents.
These include some molecules referred to as acute-phase proteins,
the complement system proteins and interferons, which increase
rapidly in numbers during infections.
Acute phase proteins encompass the C-reactive protein, a protein
that can bind to pneumococci and other bacteria and promote the
activation of some complement-system proteins.
The complement system is a complex of more than twenty serum
proteins, whose overall functions are to facilitate phagocytosis by
binding to the antigens (a process called opsonization), to control
inflammation and to destroy foreign agents through lysis of these
cells. The complement proteins interact with each other and with
other elements of the innate and specific immune system
components.
Interferons (IFNs) are a group of proteins that are important in
viral infections. Interferon  and  are produced by cells infected by
virus and they act on other cells to induce a state of resistance to
viral infection. Another IFN, known as IFN-, is produced during the
specific acquired immunity response phase.

Acquired immunity
When an individual is exposed to a foreign antigen, two basic types
of effector mechanisms are normally stimulated. One is mediated by
specific molecules, called antibodies. Antibodies are present in the
blood and various biological fluids and the antibody-mediated
immunity is called humoral immunity. The other type of immune
response is effected by cells, mainly by the so called T lymphocytes,
and confers a cell-mediated immunity.
Most immune responses involve the activity and interplay of both
the humoral and the cell-mediated immune branches of the immune
system. Furthermore, the innate and the adaptive immune systems
do not act in a totally independent way. The following examples
illustrate this: antibodies opsonize infectious agents so that
phagocytes recognize and engulf their targets more effectively;
activated T lymphocytes produce certain hormones called cytokines
and some of these cytokines stimulate phagocytes to destroy
infectious agents in a more efficient way; T lymphocytes help the so
called B lymphocytes to produce antibodies.
So, the immune system operates as an orchestra in which all
musical instruments are important, although in some parts there are
some solos, and the conductor is the foreign agent which many
times determines which (if any) kind of response(s) will be elicited.
In the next installment of this series we will approach the cells and
molecules involved in immunity, how they operate and we will have
some words about the deleterious effects that may result from the
activation of the immune system.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for further topics in the field of immunology or
immunology nomenclature, please contact the author at: lsinger@icb.usp.br or at Lsinger@originet.com.br.

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