About the Book
This book consists of articles from Wikia or other free sources online. Pages: 109. Chapters: Immunology, Adaptive immune system, Allergy, Antigens, Apoptosis, Autoimmunity, Cell-mediated immunity, Effector cell, Growth factor, Histamine, Human leukocyte antigen, Humoral immunity, Immune tolerance, Immunity, Immunization, Immunocompetence, Immunoglobulins, Immunoglobulin G, Immunological synapse, Immunosuppression, Innate immune system, Interleukins, Intravenous immunoglobulin, Leucocytes, Macrophages, Major histocompatibility complex, Post-viral fatigue syndrome, Psychoneuroimmunology, Psychosomatic medicine, Superoxide, T helper cell, Allergy, Autoimmunity, Body odor, Human leukocyte antigen, Hypersensitivity, Immune system, Immune tolerance, Immunity, Immunization, Immunocompetence, Immunocytochemistry, Immunodepression, Immunoglobulin G, Immunological disorders, Immunosuppression, Immunotherapy, Interleukins, Introduction to psychoneuroimmunology, Leucocytes, Monocyte, Natural killer cells, Neuroimmune System, Neuroimmunology, Opportunistic infections, Organ transplantation, Psychoneuroimmunology. Excerpt: The adaptability of the system is achieved by localized somatic mutations and an irreversible recombination of antigen receptor gene segments. This mechanism allows a small number of genes to generate a vast number of different antigen receptors, which are then uniquely expressed on each indiviual lymphocyte. Because the gene rearrangement leads to an irreversible change in the DNA of each cell, all of the progeny of that cell will then inherit genes encoding the same receptor specificity, including the B and T memory cells that are the keys to long-lived specific immunity. Adaptive immunity is triggered in vertebrates when a pathogen evades the innate immune system and generates a threshold level of antigen. The major functions of the adaptive immune system include: Main article: LymphocyteThe cells of the adaptive immune system are a type of leukocyte, ..
