Question

Short Answer Question 9:
The Immune System
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Key Concepts/Questions:

a) Compare and Contrast Innate vs. Adaptive Immunity with respect to features including speed, specificity, memory, and cell types involved.
b) Describe the types of professional antigen presenting cells and how they function with respect to the cell that they interact with, and how this interaction works at the molecular level

Answer 1

a).Note: Immunity is the ability of the body to resist or destroy harmful foreign materials (pathogens) or abnormal cells. The defence system is broadly classified into two types: Innate immune system and adaptive immune system.

*Innate immunity (non specific immunity)

The non specific immune system does not act on only one or two specific invaders but act on anything which is not self. It includes specific resistance, surface and physiological barriers, cellular barriers and biochemical barriers.

*Adaptive immunity (specific body defences)

Unlike the innate immunity, the adaptive immunity attacks specific agents that the body recognizes as non self. The specific immunity forms the third line of defence. This is maintained by two types of lymphocytes viz, B - lymphocytes and T - lymphocytes