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Vaccines: Essential Weapons
Overview of the Immune Response
When a pathogen enters the body, Toll-like receptors on dendritic and other cells recognize surface molecules (patterns) widely shared by microbes (1- Innate Immune Response). These “first responder” cells then display the intruder’s antigens to the helper T cells (1 – Adaptive Immune Response). Helper T cells orchestrate the immune response by activating B cells (A1). Activated B cells develop into memory B cells, sentries that stick around after an initial response to prevent reinfection by the same pathogen (A2), or plasma cells, cells that produce large numbers of antibodies that bind to invading microbes (A3). Antibody coated microbes are subsequently destroyed by phagocytes (A4). Helper T cells can also activate cytotoxic T cells, which detect infected cells and kill them (C1).
Overview of the Immune Response – Page View
When a pathogen enters the body, Toll-like receptors on dendritic and other cells recognize surface molecules (patterns) widely shared by microbes (1- Innate Immune Response). These “first responder” cells then display the intruder’s antigens to the helper T cells (1 – Adaptive Immune Response). Helper T cells orchestrate the immune response by activating B cells (A1). Activated B cells develop into memory B cells, sentries that stick around after an initial response to prevent reinfection by the same pathogen (A2), or plasma cells, cells that produce large numbers of antibodies that bind to invading microbes (A3). Antibody coated microbes are subsequently destroyed by phagocytes (A4). Helper T cells can also activate cytotoxic T cells, which detect infected cells and kill them (C1).
Subunit Vaccine
Instead of using an entire microbe in its formulation, subunit vaccines only contain the parts from inside or outside of the microbe thought to trigger an effective immune response.
Phagocytosis
Cells called phagocytes engulf microbes (bacteria) and then digest them with enzymes in specialized sacs called phagosomes. This process is called phagocytosis and is a critical weapon
of the immune system.