BT302 Handouts Spring 2025 by MS

BT302 - Immunology · Teacher: Dr Numan Javed (Phd Holder at SHanghai · Institute of Sciences, China) · 1 to 167 Lectures merged · Effort by AHMAD SAEED · BT302 - Immunology · Lesson 1 : Overview of Immune System: · Immunity

It is defined as the state of protection from infectious disease

It has both a less specific and more specific component.

1. The less specific component, innate immunity, provides the first line of defense against infection.
2. The specific component, adaptive immunity, does not come into play until there is an antigenic challenge to the organism.

The Immune system

Immune system is the defense system that has evolved to protect animals from invading pathogenic microorganisms and cancer.

It is able to generate an enormous variety of cells and molecules capable of specifically recognizing and eliminating an apparently limitless variety of foreign invaders.

Immune response

An immune response can be divided into two related activities

1. Recognition
2. Response

Immune recognition is remarkable for its specificity. The immune system is able to recognize subtle chemical differences that distinguish one foreign pathogen from another.

Furthermore, the system is able to discriminate between foreign molecules and the body’s own cells and proteins.

Once a foreign organism has been recognized, the immune system recruits a variety of cells and molecules to mount an appropriate response, called an effector response, to eliminate or neutralize the organism.

In this way the system is able to convert the initial recognition event into a variety of effector responses, each uniquely suited for eliminating a particular type of pathogen. Later exposure to the same foreign organism induces a memory response, characterized by a more rapid and heightened immune reaction that serves to eliminate the pathogen and prevent disease

Immunology

The discipline of immunology grew out of the observation that individuals who had recovered from certain infectious diseases were thereafter protected from the disease. The Latin term immunis, meaning “exempt,” is the source of the English word immunity, meaning the state of protection from infectious disease.