What stimulates the immune system to mount defenses against a harmful pathogen?

What stimulates the immune system to mount defenses against a harmful pathogen?

Specific immune responses are triggered by antigens. Antigens are usually found on the surface of pathogens and are unique to that particular pathogen. The immune system responds to antigens by producing cells that directly attack the pathogen, or by producing special proteins called antibodies.

What is one way a pathogen can evade the host’s immune system?

One way in which an infectious agent can evade immune surveillance is by altering its antigens; this is particularly important for extracellular pathogens, against which the principal defense is the production of antibody against their surface structures.

What triggers the adaptive immune system?

Adaptive immunity is an immunity that occurs after exposure to an antigen either from a pathogen or a vaccination. This part of the immune system is activated when the innate immune response is insufficient to control an infection.

How does a pathogen evade the immune system to establish infection?

Some pathogens avoid the immune system by hiding within the cells of the host, a process referred to as intracellular pathogenesis. The pathogen hides inside the host cell where it is protected from direct contact with the complement, antibodies, and immune cells.

What are the differences between nonspecific and specific immunity body defenses?

Nonspecific protective mechanisms repel all microorganisms equally, while the specific immune responses are tailored to particular types of invaders. Both systems work together to thwart organisms from entering and proliferating within the body.

Which immune system component provides the primary protection against invasion by extracellular microbes?

The extracellular spaces are protected by the humoral immune response, in which antibodies produced by B cells cause the destruction of extracellular microorganisms and prevent the spread of intracellular infections.

How do extracellular bacteria evade immune responses?

Bacteria are multifaceted in their methods used to escape immune detection. They employ tactics such as modulating their cell surfaces, releasing proteins to inhibit or degrade host immune factors, or even mimicking host molecules.

What microbe avoids detection of the immune system by hiding in the cells?

Viruses such as Varicella zoster (chickenpox) and Herpesviridae (herpes simplex viruses, Varicella-Zoster virus, cytomegalovirus etc) can hide from the immune system in neurons and non-neuronal cells where they may persist for many years, before emerging in pathogenic form when the host has a lowered resistance.

What does the adaptive immune system do?

The function of adaptive immune responses is to destroy invading pathogens and any toxic molecules they produce. Because these responses are destructive, it is crucial that they be made only in response to molecules that are foreign to the host and not to the molecules of the host itself.

What are the two types of adaptive immunity and what types of microbes do these adaptive immune responses combat?

There are two types of adaptive responses: the cell-mediated immune response, which is controlled by activated T cells, and the humoral immune response, which is controlled by activated B cells and antibodies.

What is immune evasion mechanism?

The major group of immune evasion mechanisms implies active interference with the host’s immune responses. In particular, parasites commonly interfere with the regulatory network that orchestrates the various arms of the immune defence. But parasites also interfere with basic functions of the host’s cells.

What are some examples of specific and nonspecific immune responses?

The Innate vs. Adaptive Immune Response